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THE 


Elements  of  Pedagogy 


A  Manual  for  Teachers,  Normal  Schools,  Normal  Institutes 
Teachers'  Reading  Circles,  and  all  Persons 
Interested  in  School  Education 

STATE  NORMAL  SCHOOL,, 


EMERSON  E.  WHITE,  A.M.,  LL.D. 

iuthorof  White's  Series  of  Arithmetics,  Oral  Lessons  in  Number,  School  Registers,   Etc. 


'5713 


NEW-YORK     •:•     CINCINNATI    •:•     CHICAGO 

AMERICAN   BOOK  COMPANY 


WHITE'S  ARITHMETICS. 

First  Book  of  Arithmetic $o 

30 

New  Elementary  Arithmetic, 

25 

(Short  course.) 

New  Elementary  Arithmetic, 

50 

New  Complete  Arithmetic 

65 

Oral  Lessons  in  Number 

60 

Primary  Arithmetic  (old), 

22 

Intermediate  Arithmetic  (old), 

35 

Complete  Arithmetic  (old) 

65 

WHITE'S  SCHOOL  RECORDS. 

New  School  Register 

60 

New  Common  School  Register  and  Term 

60 
60 

New  Graded  School  Register 

Teachers'  Class  Record,       

60 

Pupil's  Daily  Record,  per  dozen,    .... 

96 

Monthly  School  Record, 

40 
I  00 

White's  Elements  of  Pedagogy 

White's  School  Management 

I  00 

Senl,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  price. 

COPYRIGHT 

1886 

BY    VAN    ANTWERP,    BRAGG   &   CO. 

WHITE'S  ELE.  OF  PED. 


g^rintcb  at 
Cbe  Eclectic  press 
Cincinnati.  ^  S.  SI 


PREFACE. 


This  treatise  has  its  origin  in  a  belief  that  the  time  has  come 
for  such  a  study  of  school  education  as  will  ascertain  the  limita- 
tions of  its  maxims  and  the  coordination  and  harmonizing  of 
its  apparently  conflicting  methods.  It  embodies  the  results  of 
an  earnest  effort  to  reach  these  ends  by  the  sure  path  and  in 
the  clear  light  of  psychology  and  practical  experience. 

The  treatise  presents : 

1.  An  analysis  of  psychical  processes,  and  especially  those 
involved  in  knowing. 

2.  A  statement  of  the  order  in  which  the  several  powers  of 
the  mind  become  active,  and  their  relative  activity  and  devel- 
opment at  successive  school  periods,  with  a  graphic  illustration 
of  the  same. 

3.  A  presentation  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  teaching, 
carefully  deduced  from  psychical  facts,  and  tested  by  the  best 
school  experience  known  to  the  writer. 

4.  The  practical  embodiment  and  illustration  of  these  prin- 
ciples in  general  methods  of  teaching. 

5.  The  application  of  these  methods  to  the  teaching  of  read- 
ing, language,  geography,  and  arithmetic, — the  branches  which 
most  fully  represent  elementary  education. 

■    6.  The  statement  and  application  of  psychical  facts  to  moral 
training. 

The  methods  of  teaching  presented  embody  the  results  of 
the  author's  somewhat  wide  observation,  and  it  is  believed  that 
they  fairly  represent  the  best  teaching  in  American  schools. 
They  might  have  been  given  without  a  prior  statement  of  their 
underlying   principles,  and   these   might   have    been   presented 

(iii) 


IV  PREFACE. 

without  special  reference  to  the  psychical  facts  on  which  they 
are  based.  There  is,  however,  very  great  advantage  in  study- 
ing these  several  subjects  in  the  order  of  their  logical  depend- 
ence ;  and  it  is  hoped  that  this  will  not  be  found  difficult  in 
this  treatise,  since  an  effort  has  been  made  so  to  present 
psychical  processes  that  they  can  be  understood  by  any  one  who 
is  competent  to  teach  English  grammar.  A  fuller  illustration  of 
these  facts  of  mind  would  have  taken  space  required  for  the 
proper  treatment  of  other  subjects. 

It  is,  however,  suggested  that  the  reader  who  has  little  interest 
in  psychical  knowledge,  can  begin  with  the  principles  of  teach- 
ing (page  97),  and,  after  mastering  these  and  the  methods  which 
embody  them,  he  may  peruse  with  profit  the  pages  devoted  to 
the  elements  of  psychology.  Experience  uniformly  shows  that 
a  knowledge  of  methods  of  teaching  can  be  successfully  applied 
only  in  the  clear  light  of  the  principles  which  they  embody, 
and  hence  the  essential  thing  for  the  teacher  is  to  obtain  a  deaf 
knowledge  of  the  guiding  principles  of  his  art. 

This  treatise  is  submitted  to  American  teachers  with  the  hope 
that  it  may  give  many  of  the  more  thoughtful  a  clearer  knowl- 
edge of  their  great  art  and  more  satisfactory  success  in  its 
practice. 

Cincinnati,  O., 
July  28,  1886. 


CONTENTS. 


Introduction 


PAGE 

9 


Elements  of  Psychology. 


The  Human  Soul . 

21 

Outline  Analysis 

22 

The  Sensibility 

23 

Corporeal  Feelings 

24 

Psychical  Feelings 

26 

Voluntary  Feelings 

30 

Connection  of  Soul  and  Body    .... 

3« 

Outline  Analysis  of  the  Feelings 

34 

The  Intellect 

35 

The  Presentative  Power 

36 

Consciousness 

36 

Sense-Perception 

38 

Intuition         ....... 

44 

Presentative  Products   ..... 

45 

Man's  Condition  with  only  Presentative  Power 

47 

The  Representative  Power ..... 

48 

Simple  Representation 

51 

Memory 

51 

Imagination 

55 

Phantasy 

58 

(V) 


VI 


CONTENTS. 


Man's  Psychical  Condition 
The  Thought  Power 
Conception     . 
Judgment 
The  Reason  . 
Induction 
Deduction 
Scientific  Thought 
Outhne  Analysis  of  Mental  Processes 
Activity  and  Growth  of  Mental  Powers 
Diagram  showing  Activity  of  Mental  Powers 


Principles  of  Teaching. 


Ends  and  Means 
Principle  I  . 
Principle  II 
Principle  III 

Principle  IV  (with  diagram) 
Principle  V  .         .         . 

Principle  VI         .         .         . 
Principle  VII 


Methods  of  Teaching. 


Preliminary  Definitions 
General  Methods  of  Teaching 
Distinct  Teaching  Processes 

Instruction    . 

Drill      .... 

Testing; 


CONTENTS. 


Vll 


The  Study  of  Books  . 

Oral  Teaching  and  Book  Study 

Their  Union  in  Primary  Classes  , 
Union  in  Intermediate  Classes 
Union  in  High-School  Classes 
Classes  of  Teaching  Exercises 
The  Lesson  . 

Methods  in  Lessons 
The  Recitation 

Objects  or  Aims     .   . 
Methods  of  Testing 

The  Question  Method 
The  Topic  Method 
Methods  of  Calling  on  Pupils 
The  Consecutive  Method 
The  Promiscuous  Method 
The  Simultaneous  Method 
Written  Examinations 
The  Teacher's  Preparation 


Methods  of  Teaching  Special  Branches. 


Reading 

First  Steps  in  Reading 
Reading  Drills  in  Second  Reader 
Reading  Drills  in  Advanced  Classes 
Language     .... 
Language  Lessons 

Primary  Series 

Secondary  Series  . 

Original  Series 


Vlll 


CONTENTS. 


English  Grammar 

Introductory  J^essons     . 

Synthesis  of  Simple  Sentence 

Analysis  and  Parsing     . 

Geography  

Oral  Course  in  Home  Geography 

Syllabus  of  Oral  Lessons 
Intermediate  or  Book  Course 
Course  in  Physical  Geography 

Arithmetic 

The  Primary  Course     . 

The  Elementary  Book  Course 

The  Completing  Course 


255 
256 
259 
265 
268 
270 
271 
283 
293 
294 
294 

304 
309 


Moral  Training. 


The  Will 

313 

The  Training  of  the  Will     .... 

.         318 

School  Incentives 

320 

The  Religious  Motives         .... 

323 

Religious  Sanction^  in  Moral  Training 

327 

Religion  in  the  Public  School 

.        328 

THE 


ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Education  as  an  art  is  based  primarily  on  the  nat- 
ure of  the  being  educated.  This  fact  is  illustrated 
not  only  in  the  education  of  different  classes  Education 
of  human  beings,  as  infants  and  adults,  the  ^^  *"  ^'■*- 
blind,  the  deaf,  and  the  feeble-minded,  but  also  in  the 
training  of  different  brute  animals,  as  the  horse,  the 
dog,  and  the  monkey.  In  the  education  or  training  of 
these  and  other  diverse  classes,  the  means  employed 
obviously  vary  as  the  nature  of  the  being  varies. 

It   follows  that   the   determiningr  of  the  methods   to 
\    be  employed  in  the  education  of  any  class  of  human 
*^  beings  involves  a  knowledge  of  their  educable  nature ; 
'    and    hence    the    determining   of  methods   and    courses 
of  school  education  involves  a  knowledge  of  the  edu- 
cable nature  of  children  and  youth. 

How  is  this  guiding  knowledge  to  be  obtained  ?  It 
is  believed  that  this  knowledge  is  best  reached  by  a 
careful  analysis  and  study  of  psychical  proc-  Guiding 
esses  as  revealed  in  consciousness,  and  then  Knowledge, 
determining  the  relations  of  these  processes  to  each 
other,  and  the  comparative  activity  and  energy  of 
the    corresponding   powers    in    the   successive    periods 

(9) 


lO  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

of  school  life  by  a  wide  comparison  of  children  of 
different  ages  and  conditions.  This  order  is  a  neces- 
sary one,  since  the  j^sychical  nature  of  children  can 
not  be  known  primarily  by  a  study  of  their  outer  ac- 
tivities, and  for  the  reason  that  such  activities  can 
only  be  interpreted  in  the  light  of  psychical  knowl- 
edge, and  this  can  be  obtained  only  by  knowing  one's 
self  in  consciousness.  The  Delphic  precept,  ' '  Know 
thyself,"  is  not  only  the  door  to  philosophy,  but  to 
all  knowledge  of  human  action  and  experience.  The 
necessary  basis  of  child  psychology  is  general  psy- 
chology. * 

What  is  primarily  needed  for  practical  guidance  in 
teaching  is  a  clear  knowledge  of  the  psychical  proc- 
Psychicai  csscs  iuvolved  in  learning,  and  hence  the 
Processes,  autlior  has  aimed  to  present  this  essential 
knowledge  as  clearly  as  possible.  To  this  end,  the 
processes  involved  in  feeling,  knowing,  and  willing 
have  been  carefully  analyzed,  and  their  conditions  and 
mutual  relations  considered,  and  in  all  this  the  leading 
purpose  has  been  to  ascertain  and  present  those  facts 
of  mind  which  most  directly  relate  to  the  art  of  educa- 
tion. There  has  been  no  attempt  to  present  exhaust- 
ively the  facts  of  psychology,  much  less  to  give  the 
philosophy  of  these  facts,  and  for  the  reason  that  such 
knowledge  would  be  of  little,  if  any,  assistance  to 
the  great  body  of  teachers,  whose  first  need  is  to  see 


*"The  mental  phenomena  of  children,  as  well  as  of  adults,  of 
savages  as  well  as  cultured  people,  can  never  be  perceived  as  ex- 
ternal phenomena,  but  only  in  one's  self,  and  inferred  to  exist  in 
others  as  concomitant  to  certain  external  movements  or  changes 
which  are  perceived  to  exist  externally." 

— W.  T.  Harris,   in  ^^Psychological  Fnquhy.'''' 


INTR OD  UC TIOX.  I  I 

clearly  the  foundations  of  their  art.  It  is  feared  that 
even  the  more  thoughtful  teachers  are  confused,  rather 
than  helped,  by  the  mass  of  subtle  facts  and  specula- 
tions, which  are  sometimes  given  under  the  name  of 
psychology ;  and  the  author  confesses  his  inability  to 
see  the  practical  bearing  of  much  of  the  so-called  phi- 
losophy now  so  often  presented  as  the  basis  of  educa- 
tional methods. 

Besides,  Avhatever  may  be  true  of  the  value  of  phi- 
losophy as  a  practical  guide  in  education,  the  only 
door  to  it  is  a  clear  knotuledge  of  the  facts  study  of 
ivhich  it  seeks  to  explain.  It  is  believed  that  Psychology, 
the  non-observance  of  this  obvious  principle  will  ex- 
plain largely  the  unsatisfactory  results  of  the  study  of 
psychology  in  some  of  our  higher  institutions.  Stu- 
dents, who  have  no  adequate  knowledge  of  primary 
mental  processes,  are  confronted  with  abstruse  the- 
ories and  speculations  to  account  for  them,  with  crit- 
icisms on  the  same,  and  even  with  a  history  of  phi- 
losophic inquiry  on  the  subject!  As  a  consequence, 
the  student  is  confused  and  bewildered.  What  a 
change  would  appear  if  all  students  of  psychology 
were  first  to  spend  a  ^&\v  months  in  a  proper  study 
of  the  elementary  facts  of  the  science,  including  the 
physiological  conditions  of  psychical  action  ! 

It  has  not  been  possible  to  designate  psychical  phe- 
nomena by  terms  universally  thus  applied,  and  for  the 
reason  that  there  is  no  universal  usage  in  Terms 
the  nomenclature  of  psychical  science — a  "^^*^- 
few  terms  excepted.  The  terms  "know"  and  "knowl- 
edge," "think,"  and  "thought,"  and  many  other 
terms   of  like    importance   are    employed   by    different 


12        THE  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

writers  to  denote  different  processes  and  products ; 
and  there  is  a  similar  diversity  and  confusion  in  the 
use  of  educational  terms.  The  most  that  can  be  de- 
manded of  an  author  is  that  he  employ  terms  in 
senses  supported  by  good,  if  not  the  best,  usage,  and 
that  his  use  of  these  terms  be  uniformly  consistent. 
It  is  hoped  that  the  use  of  terms  in  this  treatise  fully 
meets  this  requirement.  The  question  of  language  has 
not,  however,  been  permitted  to  obscure  the  fact  that, 
for  our  present  purpose,  the  essential  thing  is  to  ascer- 
tain the  actual  processes  involved  in  psychical  activity, 
and  then  so  clearly  to  designate  them  that  there  may 
be  neither  confusion  nor  misunderstanding  in  their  ap- 
plication in  principles  and  methods  of  teaching.  The 
reader  is  urged  to  ascertain  the  sense  in  which  tech- 
nical terms  are  used,  and  then  to  keep  this  knowledge 
in  mind  when  studying  principles  and  methods. 

The  purpose  for  which  an  analysis  of  psychical  phe- 
nomena has  been  introduced  into  this  treatise,  has 
Physiological  neither  called  for  nor  justified  a  full  pre- 
Knowiedge.  scutatiou  of  tliosc  facts  of  physiology  which 
are  related  to  the  facts  of  mind.  Any  attempt  to  pre- 
sent the  physiology  of  the  nervous  organism  would 
have  required  many  pages,  and,  besides,  it  would 
have  involved  physiological  questions,  which  future  re- 
searches can  alone  settle.  The  most  that  has  seemed 
necessary  in  this  direction,  is  a  concise  statement  of 
the  physiological  conditions  involved  in  psychical  ac- 
tivity, especially  in  sensation,  and  a  clear  recognition 
of  the  marvelous  interdependence  and  interaction  of 
mind  and  body  in  psychical  phenomena.  Nor  is  this 
limitation   any  disparagement  of  the  value   of  physio- 


IN  TROD  UC  TION.  1 3 

logical  knowledge  in  education.  It  is  fully  conceded 
that  the  bodily  conditions  of  mental  action  must  be 
clearly  recognized  in  all  educational  methods,  and 
especially  when  the  being  educated  is  the  growing 
child.  The  period  of  adolescence  presents  educational 
problems  which  can  only  be  solved  in  the  light  of 
physiology. 

But  this  does  not  change  the  fact  that  a  primary 
knowledge  of  psychical  processes  can  only  be  gained 
through  consciousness.  The  researches  of  Researches  of 
physiologists  have  not  yet  thrown  a  ray  Physiologists, 
of  light  on  the  nature  of  mind,  or  on  the  manner  in 
which  sensorial  action  occasions  mental  activity,  or  on 
the  manner  in  which  mental  action  produces  sensorial 
changes.  The  interactions  of  soul  and  body  in  psy- 
chical i^henomena  seem  as  unsolvable  as  that  other 
mystery  called  life.  What  is  clearly  known  is  that 
the  phenomena  of  the  soul,  as  revealed  in  the  certain 
light  of  consciousness,  are  totally  unlike  the  discov- 
ered activities  of  the  sensorial  organism.  The  last 
possible  discovery  of  physiology  can  only  give  the  last 
pJiysical  condition  of  psychical  action. 

The  most  important  psychical  question  involved  in 
determining  the  principles  and  methods  of  teaching,  is 
the  relative  activity  and  development  of  study  of 
the  several  intellectual  powers  in  the  sue-  children, 
cess'ive  periods  of  child  life  — a  question  which,  as  be- 
fore stated,  can  only  be  settled  by  a  wide  comparison 
of  the  activities  of  children  of  different  ages  and  condi- 
tions. The  practical  difficulty  in  making  such  a  com- 
parison is  the  probability  that  all  necessary  facts  are 
not   yet  known,    and,   at  first  thought,    it  would   seem 


14  KL  EM  EX  TS  0  E  FED  A  C  OCV. 

wise  to  defer  any  attempt  at  such  comparison  until  a 
wider  study  of  children  has  been  made.  The  objec- 
tion to  such  delay  is  the  important  fact  that  the  great 
work  of  education  can  not  be  arrested  while  this 
needed  investigation  is  made.  The  present  genera- 
tion of  youth  must  be  trained,  if  trained  at  all,  in 
the  light  of  what  is  )iozu  known  of  child  nature  and 
activity,  and  hence  it  becomes  necessary  to  take  a 
general  survey  of  the  facts  known  in  order  to  throw 
the  clearest  possible  light  on  the  present  work  of  the 
schools. 

Moreover,  while  the  information  now  accessible  is 
not  in  some  respects  satisfactory,  it  is  believed  that 
General  cuough  is  kuown  to  render  it  both  safe 
Survey.  ^iwd  wisc  to  draw  a  few  conclusions  for  the 
guidance  of  elementary  teachers,  and  especially  when 
the  known  facts  are  interpreted  in  the  light  of  per- 
sonal observation  and  experience.  The  safety  of  such 
a  general  survey  is  increased  by  the  fact  that  the 
conclusions  reached  are  used  in  pedagogy  as  modify- 
ing, and  not  as  basal  elements.  The  essential  facts 
of  mind  are  revealed  in  consciousness,  and  are  pre- 
sented in  general  psychology,  and  what  is  sought  in 
the  study  of  children  is  to  ascertain  what  modifica- 
tions of  these  facts  are  effected  by  the  varying  condi- 
tions of  child  life. 

It  has  seemed  best  to  deduce  from  the  facts  of 
psychology,  and  formally  state,  only  the  more  funda- 
Principies  of  Hieutal  principles  of  teaching,  and  to  pre- 
Teaching.  s(.j^|-  subordinate  principles  in  connection 
with  the  methods  which  embody  them.  The  learner 
of  an   art  can   intelligently   apply  only   a   few   princi- 


INTR OD  UCTIOX.  I  5 

pies,  and  these  at  first  should  be  fundamental.  This 
is  specially  true  in  teaching,  the  most  complex  and 
difficult  of  arts. 

It  is  believed  that  the  seven  principles  of  teaching 
formally  stated  and  explained  in  this  treatise,  are  both 
fundamental  and  comprehensive.  They  run  centrally 
through  the  art  of  teaching,  and  are  widely  applica- 
ble, especially  in  elementary  schools.  They  are  not 
presented  as  coordinate,  since  the  first  really  includes 
the  others,  and  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  present 
them  in  a  strictly  logical  order,  the  first  three  ex- 
cepted. There  is  a  logical  sequence,  but  less  obvi- 
ous, in  the  last  four  principles. 

Great  care  has  been  taken  to  point  out  limitations 
when  such  exist,  and  this  has  seemed  all  the  more  im- 
portant since  such  limitations  are  so  often  Limitations 
ignored.  One  of  the  most  misleading  er-  of  Maxims, 
rors  in  present  pedagogic  discussion  is  the  sweeping 
assumption  that  maxims,  which  have  a  limited  applica- 
tion, are  universal  principles  of  teaching.  The  point- 
ing out  of  these  limitations  may,  in  some  instances, 
seem  to  sacrifice  strength  of  statement,  but  the  truth 
is  better  for  guidance  than  a  doubtful  epigram. 

In  presenting  methods  of  teaching,  great  care  has 
been  taken  to  adapt  the  same  to  the  actual  work  of 
the  schools,  and  to  make  the  character-  General 
istic  features  obvious  by  simple  illustra-  Methods, 
tions.  Special  attention  has  been  given  to  the  proper 
coordination  of  related  methods,  and  the  practical 
union  of  those  that  are  complementary,  as  is  true  of 
analytic  and  synthetic  methods,  oral  teaching  and 
book  study,    the  lesson  and  the  recitation,  etc.      It  is 


1 6  ELEMENTS  OF  FED  A  GOGV. 

believed  that  no  portion  of  the  book  will  be  more 
helpful  to  the  great  body  of  teachers  than  that  which 
presents  the  practical  union  of  oral  teaching  and  book 
study  as  complementary  means  of  school  training. 
The  elementary  teaching  in  American  schools  has,  in 
many  instances,  swung  from  almost  exclusive  book 
study  and  drill  to  as  exclusive  oral  teaching,  and  the 
results  of  each  extreme  practice  have  been  far  from 
satisfactory.  An  earnest  attempt  has  been  made  to 
show  how  these  two  means  or  methods  of  school 
training  may  be  united  in  the  successive  grades,  thus 
practically  solving  one  of  the  most  important  teach- 
ing problems  that  now  confront  the  educators  of  the 
country. 

An  effort  has  also  been  made  to  present  the  func- 
tions and  limits,  respectively,  of  instruction,  drilling, 
Lessons  and  and  tcstiug,  in  a  complete  method  of  school 
Recitations,  training.  It  is  believed  that  the  division 
of  school  exercises  into  lessons  and  recitations,  and 
the  careful  treatment  of  each,  especially  the  latter, 
will  be  welcomed  by  all  teachers  who  have  noted  the 
increasing  absence  of  study  in  the  elementary  schools, 
even  in  the  upper  grades.  In  too  many  schools  the 
art  of  testing  is  becoming  one  of  the  lost  arts,  and 
under  the  influence  of  overteaching,  the  pupils,  in  too 
many  instances,  are  reaching  the  high  school  without 
the  power  or  the  habit  of  self- effort  and  study.  The 
recitation  with  its  searching  tests  has  an  important 
place  in  all  grades  of  school,  especially  in  those  above 
the  lower  or  primary. 

In  presenting  methods  of  teaching  particular  branch- 
es, those  branches  have  been  selected  that  best  repre- 


IXTROD  UCTION.  1 7 

sent  the  several  departments  of  elementary  knowledge 
included  in  a  school  course.  These  are  special 
reading,  language,  arithmetic,  and  geog-  Methods. 
raphy.  The  methods  of  teaching  these  branches  are 
presented  sufficiently  in  detail  for  the  guidance  of  in- 
telligent teachers,  and  no  others  will  obtain  much  help 
from  a  treatise  on  teaching.  It  would  be  easy  to  fill  a 
large  volume  with  detailed  methods  of  teaching  these 
branches,  but  the  mere  copying  of  such  methods, 
without  seeing  clearly  the  principles  involved,  would 
be  of  questionable  advantage.  A  method  is  at  best 
but  an  orderly  procedure.  What  its  results  will  be 
depends  on  what  the  teacher  puts  into  it ;  and  a 
teacher  can  never  put  into  a  method  what  he  does 
not  himself  possess.  It  is  true  that  there  is  great 
advantage  in  the  intelligent  study  of  good  methods, 
but  the  highest  success  in  teaching  is  only  attained 
by  the  teacher's  making  the  methods  which  he  uses, 
Jiis  oivn.  They  must  embody  his  ideals,  and  be 
adapted  to  his  individual  power. 

In  the  discussion  of  the  subject  of  moral  training, 
a  central  position  has  been  given  to  the  right  training 
of  the  will,  so  little  discussed  or  under-  Moral 
stood,  and  it  is  hoped  that  new  light  has  Training. 
been  thrown,  not  only  on  the  question  of  moral  incen- 
tives, but  also  on  the  place  of  religion  in  school  edu- 
cation. The  necessity  of  using  religious  motives  in 
the  effective  training  of  the  will  suggests  a  practica- 
ble mean  position  between  the  two  extreme  views 
now  in  conflict, — the  one  demanding  the  exclusion  of 
all  ideas  of  God  and  religion  from  the  public  school," 
and   the   other   insisting   that   formal    religious    instruc- 


1 8  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

tion  be  made  the  basis  of  all  moral  training.  From 
the  stand -point  of  will  training,  it  is  seen  that  what 
is  imperatively  demanded  is  not  formal  or  technical 
religious  instruction  in  school,  so  much  as  the  quick- 
ening of  the  conscience  and  the  influencing  of  the 
will  by  the  wise  use  of  religious  motives  and  sanc- 
tions. 


ELEMENTS  OF  PSYCHOLOGY. 


(tg) 


ELEMENTS  OF  PSYCHOLOGY. 


THE  HUMAN  SOUL. 

Psychology  is  the  science  of  the  human  soul.  It 
treats  of  the  attributes  and  phenomena  of  the  soul  as 
manifested  in  its  connection  with  the  body  in  the 
present  life. 

The  human  soul  is  capable  of  three  distinct  classes 
of  activities,  called  feeling,  knozvmg,  and  willing.  The 
affirmations,  I  feel,  I  know,  I  will,  express  actions 
which  are  universally  recognized  as  distinct  in  kind. 

The  capability  of  the   soul  to   put   forth  a  definite 
action,  or  to  act  in  a  definite  way,  is  called      Psychical 
power.^     The  power  of  the  soul  to  feel  is       Powers, 
called  the  Sensibility;   its  power  to  know,  the  Intellect ; 
and  its  power  to  will,   the    Will. 

This  reference  of  the  three  distinct  activities  of  the 
soul  to  three  powers,  called  sensibility,   intellect,   and 
will,  does  not  imply  that  the  soul  is  com-      The  soui 
posed  of  parts   or  organs.     It  is  the  soul,        ^  ^""• 
not   a   part   of  it,   that  feels,    that  knows,    that  wills. 


*This  ability  or  capacity  of  the  soul  is  also  cvMeA  faczilly,  but 
this  term  suggests  too  strongly  that  the  soul  is  composed  or  made 
up  of  separate  capacities'  or  faculties.  The  use  of  the  term  power  is 
not  entirely  free  from  this  objection. 


(21) 


22  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

The  sensibility  might  be  defined  as  the  soul  possess- 
ing or  exercising  the  power  of  feeling ;  the  intellect,  as 
the  soul  possessing  or  exercising  the  power  of  know- 
ing ;  and  the  will,  as  the  soul  possessing  or  exercising 
the  power  of  willing.  The  human  soul  is  a  unity  in 
essence  with  a  trinity  of  powers  and  activities. 

It  is  also  to  be  specially  noted  that  the  powers  of 
the  soul  to  feel,  to  know,  and  to  will  are  distinct,  but 
Powers  Inter-  '>iot  iudcpoidcut.  The  actiou  of  the  soul  in 
dependent,  feeling  depends  more  or  less  on  its  action 
in  knowing  and  willing;  its  action  in  knowing  depends 
on  its  action  in  feeling  and  willing ;  and  its  action  in 
willing  depends  on  its  action  in  feeling  and  knowing. 
In  other  words,  the  power  of  the  soul  to  put  forth 
any  given  activity  depends  more  or  less  on  its  power 
to  put  forth  other  distinct  but  related  activities.  In 
the  soul's  conscious  experience  the  activities  of  feeling, 
knowing,  and  willing  are  marvelously  blended  in  many 
complex  acts  and  states ;  and  there  is  a  like  marvel- 
ous connection  and  interdependence  of  the  activities 
of  the  soul  and  the  body  (p.  31). 

The  terms  soul  and  mind  are  often  used  as  synony- 

inteiiect       mous,  but  the  best  usage  increasingly  ap- 

caiied  Mind,    pijeg    the    term    mind    to    the    intellect    or 

knowing   power  of  the  soul,   or,   more  accurately,   to 

the  soul  exercising  the  power  of  knowing. 

Outline  Analysis. 

fj^e       r  I.  Sensibility — the  power  to  feel. 

Human  \    2.   Intellect — the  power  to  know. 

Soul.      [  2.  The  Will— the  power  to  will. 


THE  SENSIBILITY,  23 


THE  SENSIBILITY. 

All  feelings  are  actions  or  states  of  the   soul,   and 
hence  are  psychical.     The  feelings  may,   however,   be 
properly  classified  as  Corporeal  and  Psychical,       classes  01 
the  former  having  their  origin  in  the  bodily      Feeimgs. 
organism,   and  the  latter  originating  more  exclusively 
in  the  soul. 

The  bodily  organism  in  which  the  corporeal  feelings 
have  their  origin,  consists  of  the  nervous  system  proper, 
including  the  brain,  spinal  marrow,  ganglia.  Nervous 
and  nerves,  and  the  special  nerves  of  the  System, 
organs  of  touch,  sight,  hearing,  taste,  and  smell.  The 
brain  is  the  central  organ  of  the  nervous  system ;  the 
spinal  marrow  connects  the  brain  with  the  nervous  sys- 
tem below  the  head ;  and  the  ganglia  are  subordinate 
nervous  centers.  The  nerves  ramify  through  all  parts 
of  the  body,  the  hair  and  parts  of  the  nails  and  bones 
excepted,  and  terminate  in  the  skin,  internal  surfaces, 
muscles,  and  the  special  organs  of  sense.  Their  gen- 
eral function  is  to  receive  and  convey  impressions  or 
excitations  from  the  peripheral  parts  to  the  nervous 
centers,  and  to  carry  motor  excitations  from  the  nerv- 
ous centers  to  the  peripheral  parts.  The  nerve  fila- 
ments that  carry  excitations  to  the  nervous  centers 
are  called  afferent  nerves,  and  those  that  carry  excita- 
tions//'i?w  the  nervous  centers  are  called  efferent  nerves. 

The  organs  of  sight,  hearing,  taste,  and  smell  are 
located  in  the  head,  in  close  connection  with  the  brain. 
The  nerves  of  touch  are  in  the  skin  (outer  and  inner) 
and  are  distributed  unevenly,   the  tip  of  the  tongue, 


24  ELEMENTS  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 

the    lips,    and  the   ends   of  the    fingers    having   many- 
nerves,  and  being  the  most  sensitive  parts  of  the  body. 

The  nervous  system  is  not  only  the  organism  of 
all  corporeal  activities,  including  those  which  occasion 
Organ  of  the  corporcal  feelings,  but  it  is  the  bodily 
the  Soul.  organism  on  which  the  soul  directly  acts 
in  psychical  feeling  and  in  intellectual  and  volitional 
activity.  The  brain  is  eminently  the  corporeal  organ 
of  the  mind.* 

Corporeal  Feelings. 

The  corporeal  feelings  include  Sensations,  Appetites, 
and  Instincts. 

Sensations  are  feelings  occasioned  by  some  excite- 
ment of  the  nervous  organism.  They  include  general 
and  special  sensations.     The  general  sensa- 

Sensations.  ^  _  °      _ 

tions  include  ( i  )  organic  sensations,  those 
connected  with  the  nutritive,  circulatory,  respiratory, 
and  other  bodily  organs,  and  ( 2 )  vital  sen.sations, 
those  of  rest  and  fatigue,  vigor  and  languor,  health 
and  sickness,  temperature,  etc.  The  special  sensa- 
tions include  those  of  touch,  sight,  hearing,  taste, 
smell,  and  certain  muscular  sensations.  So  much  of 
the  nervous  system  as  is  involved  in  sensation  is 
called  the  sensory  organism,  or  the  sensoriiim. 

Special  sensations,  and  some  general  sensations,  are 
Sensations  locatcd  by  tlic  mind  in  the  part  of  the 
Localized.      scnsoHum  cxcitcd  or  affected.     When,  for 


*See  Carpenter's  Human  Physiology ;  Carpenter's  Mental  FhysU 
ology ;  Lewes's  Fhysical  Basis  of  Mind;  and  E.  C.  Seguin  on  the 
Nervous  System  (Johnson's  "New  Universal  Cyclopaedia. ") 


THE  SENSIBILITY.  2$ 

example,  a  cold  substance,  as  ice,  is  touched  with 
the  finger,  the  resulting  sensation  has  its  locus  in  the 
finger,  and,  at  the  same  time,  is  in  the  soul.*  The 
sensorial  excitement  is  in  the  nerves  of  the  finger, 
and  is  corporeal  or  physical ;  the  resulting  sensation 
is  in  the  soul,  and  is  purely  psychical.  The  soul  riot 
only  experiences  the  sensation,  but  it  perceives  or  is 
conscious  of  it.  It  is  not  conscious  of  nerves  or 
nerve  action,  of  the  sensorium  excited  to  action  or 
sensorial  action,  but  t't  is  conscious  of  the  sensation. 
The  soul  is  only  conscious  of  psychical  phenomena, 
and  the  first  psychical  experience  of  which  it  is  con- 
scious is  a  sensation. 

The  Appetites  are  feelings  occasioned  by  the  vital 
wants  of  the  body.      The  principal  appetites  are  hun- 
ger,   thirst,   sleep,    exercise,   and   the  appe- 
tite of  sex — the  first  four  being  related  to 
the  preservation  of  the  individual,  and  the  last  to  the 
continuation  of  the  species. 

The  appetites  not  only  have  their  origin  in  the 
body,  but  they  act  under  bodily  conditions.  An  ap- 
petite may  be  indulged  to  excess,  and  Habits  of 
such  excessive  indulgence  results  in  injury.  Appetite. 
Appetites  for  special  objects  may  be  acquired,  as  those 
for  tobacco,  opium,  alcohol,  etc.,  and  these  acquired 
appetites  may,  in  some  cases,  be  transmitted  to  off- 
spring,  and  thus  become  hereditary.      The  most  fear- 

«  It  is  not  important  to  raise  here  the  old  question  respecting 
the  locus  of  the  soul.  It  is  sufficient  to  know  that  sensorial  action 
affects  the  soul,  and  that  the  resulting  sensation  is  located  in  the 
part  of  the  sensorium  excited.  It  is  possible  that  the  soul  may 
pervade  and  animate  the  entire  sensorium. 
W.  P.- 3. 


26  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

ful  habits  to  which  man  is  subject  have  their  origin 
in  an  abuse  of  appetite. 

The  Instincts  are  those  impulses  which  attend  sen- 
sations and    appetites,    and,    in    the   absence  of  direct- 

in<7  inteUigence,  prompt  and   direct  appro- 
instincts.  '='  °  ...  ^^ 

priate  action.      Instinct  impels  and  directs 

these  blind  feelings  to  their  appropriate  ends.  The 
nursing  of  the  babe,  its  cry  for  food,  the  scream  that 
attends  sudden  fright,  the  dodging  of  a  blow,  the  quick 
glance  at  any  sudden  or  strange  appearing,  the  shrink- 
ing from  a  pinch  or  prick,  and  the  shielding  of  the 
eye  from  too  intense  light,  are  examples  of  actions 
prompted  by  human  instinct.  Instinctive  actions  are 
automatic,  although  they  may  seem  to  be  rational 
and  voluntary.  It  is  sometimes  very  difficult  to  de- 
termine whether  a  given  act  is  instinctive,  or  rational 
and  voluntary. 

Psychical  Feelings. 

The  Psychical  Feelings  have  their  origin  or  genesis 
in  the  soul,  and  are  further  characterized  by  the  fact 
that  they  are  never  located  by  the  mind  in  any  part 
of  the  bodily  organism.  The  psychical  feelings  in- 
clude the  Emotions,  the  Affections,  and  the  Desires. 

The    Emotions    are    those    pure    feelings  which  are 

awakened  or  incited  by  the  presence  of  some  thought, 

concept,  or  idea  in  the  mind,  as  the  emo- 

Emotions.  _  ^  _ 

tions  of  joy,  sorrow,  pleasure,  grief,  fear, 
shame,  etc.  Their  psychical  origin  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  there  can  be  no  emotion  in  the  absence  of 
knowledge  adapted  to  awaken  it,  and  by  the  further 
fact  that,  in  the  same  bodily  condition,   unlike  inciting 


THE  SENSIBILITY.  2/ 

knowledge  awakens  unlike  emotions,  one  intelligence 
causing  ecstatic  joy,  and  another  the  deepest  grief. 
As  an  illustration  of  the  second  fact,  suppose  a  person 
in  a  certain  bodily  condition  be  handed  the  telegram, 
"Your  father  is  heir  to  a  great  fortune,"  and  then  sup- 
pose that  the  same  person,  in  the  same  bodily  condi- 
tion, be  handed  the  telegram,  "Your  father  is  dead." 
It  is  certain  that  the  resulting  emotion  in  each  case 
would  be  determined  by  the  intelligence,  and  not  by 
the  bodily  condition.  There  is  nothing  in  science  or 
experience  to  sustain  the  assumption  that  the  emo- 
tion is  occasioned  by  some  sensorial  effect  produced 
through  the  senses.  There  is  nothing  in  the  physical 
words,  as  forms  or  sounds,  that  can  cause  sensorial 
impressions  so  unlike  as  the  emotions  awakened.* 

It  is  true  that  the  intensity  or  degree  of  an  emotion 
may  depend  on  bodily  conditions,  and  especially  on 
the  condition  of  the  vital  organs.  Intelli-  intensity  of 
gence  that  would  awaken  the  intensest  Emotions. 
emotion  in  one  bodily  condition,  may  occasion  only  a 
moderate  emotion  in  another.  It  is  also  true  that  an 
emotion  may  occasion  a  sensation,  and,  by  repetition, 
the   two   activities   or   states    may   be    so    closely  asso- 


*This  fact  is  strikingly  illustrated  by  an  occurrence  at  a  county 
teachers'  institute  in  Indiana.  A  leading  and  much-V°.loved  teacher 
in  the  county  was  detained  at  home  by  serious  illness.  At  one  of 
the  sessions  the  county  superintendent  read  a  telegram  as  follows: 
"  Clarence  is  no  more."  It  produced  general  and  deep  sorrow 
among  the  members,  and  arrangements  for  attending  the  funeral 
were  made.  The  next  day  a  teacher  from  the  neighborhood  en- 
tered the  institute,  and,  on  being  asked  when  the  funeral  would 
take  place,  replied  that  Clarence  was  not  dead,  but  was  improving. 
The  surprised  but  happy  superintendent  looked  up  the  telegram  and, 
found   that  it  read,    "Clarence  is  no  ivofse.'' 


28  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

ciated  that  the  presence  of  either  will  be  accompanied 
by  the  other.  A  sensation  may  thus  revive  an  emo- 
tion, but  this  fact  does  not  show  that  the  revived 
emotion  had  primarily  a  sensorial  origin. 

The  nature  of  an  emotion  is  determined  by  the  nat- 
ure of  the  knowledge  or  intellectual  act  or  state  that 
Nature  and     awakcns  it.      An  apprehension  of  novelty, 

Classes.  ^yj|-^  humor,  beauty,  grandeur,  sublimity, 
etc.,  occasions  the  corresponding  esthetic  emotions. 
The  ideas  of  right,  duty,  responsibility,  obligation, 
etc.,  with  reference  to  man,  awaken  the  corresponding 
ethical  feelings.  The  contemplation  of  God's  good- 
ness, holiness,  justice,  love,  mercy,  and  grace  awakens 
the  religious  emotions  of  hope,  fear,  humility,  grati- 
tude, thankfulness,   etc. 

The  Affections  are  feelings   directed   towards    living 

or  existent  beings,    institutions,  and  other  appropriate 

objects,     as     the     love     of    God,     kindred, 

Affections. 

friends,  home,  country,  etc.  An  affection 
is  characterized  by  an  impulse  or  movement  of  the 
soul  towards  an  external  object.  It  is  attended  by  a 
pleasurable  or  a  painful  emotion. 

The  affections  may  be  classified  as  benevolent  and 
malevolent. 

The  benevolent  affections  seek  the  well-being  or 
good  of  their  object.  They  include  love,  friendship, 
esteem,  sympathy,  compassion,  pity,  mercy,  grati- 
tude, piety,  philanthropy,   patriotism,  etc. 

The  malevolent  affections  tend  to  injure  or  do  evil 
to  their  object.  They  include  dislike,  antipathy,  con- 
tempt, scorn,  disdain,  envy,  jealousy,  malice,  hatred, 
anger,  revenge,  resentment,  etc. 


THE  SENSIBILITY.  29 

The  Desires  are  the  cravings  of  the  soul   for  some 
real  or  supposed  good  not  possessed,  as  a 
desire    for    knowledge,    influence,    station, 
power,     popularity,     superiority,     success,     friends,     a 
house,  a  painting,  a  library,  etc. 

The  desires  involve  opposite  feelings  called  avo'- 
sions.  The  desire  for  wealth  involves  an  aversion  to 
poverty ;  a  desire  for  happiness,  an  aversion  to  misery, 
etc. 

The  distinction  between  an  affection  and  a  desire  is 
clear.  In  an  affection,  the  soul  goes  out  to  an  object 
to  affect  it ;  in  a  desire  the  soul  craves  an  object  to 
affect  itself  The  end  of  an  affection  is  objective  and 
unselfish  ;   the  end  of  a  desire  is  subjective. 

When  the  impulsive  tendency  of  a  desire  becomes 
so  strong  as  to  incline  the  soul  to  the  object  desired, 
the  desire  is  called  an  inclination,  and  when  other 
an  inclination  becomes  habitual,  it  is  called  Terms, 
a  propensity  or  disposition.  A  desire  or  affection  or 
appetite  energized  and  made  intense  by  the  presence 
of  its  object,  is  called  a  passion. 

It  is  seen  from  the  foregoing  analysis  of  the  feel- 
ings, that  sensations  and  emotions  are  more  or  less 
passive,    and    that   the   appetites,    instincts, 

'^  x-i-  '  >  Motives. 

affections,    and    desires   are   active   and    im- 
pulsive.     It   will    be    shown    hereafter    that    these    im- 
pulsive feelings,   especially  the  affections  and   desires, 
are  incentives  or  motives  (p.  320). 

It  is  also  seen  from  the  foregoing  analysis  that  the 
different   classes  of  feelings   are  closely  re-       Feelings 
lated.      Sensations  pass  over  into  appetites,        Related, 
and    both    sensations    and    appetites    awaken    related 


30  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

affections  and  desires.  Every  emotion  is  attended  by 
a  desire,  and  the  affections  are  usually  attended  by 
emotions,  and  pass  over  into  desires.  The  movement 
of  the  feelings  is,  as  a  general  rule,  towards  desire. 
In  the  soul's  conscious  experience  the  different  feelings 
are  blended  in  many  complex  states,  and  this  is  true 
of  all  psychical  activities.  It  will  be  subsequently 
shown  (p.  39)  that  the  sensations  are  the  genesis  of 
intellectual  activity  and  life. 

Voluntary  Feelings. 

The  above  analysis  of  the  phenomena  of  the  sensi- 
bility has  been  confined  to  the  natural  or  sponta- 
neous feelings,  with  little  reference  to  the  voluntary 
feelings,  which  will  hereafter  be  considered  in  con- 
nection with  the  phenomena  of  the  will  as  a  basis  of 
moral  education  (p.  313).  What  has  been  attempted 
is  to  make  such  an  analysis  of  the  feelings  as  will 
throw  needed  light  on  the  processes  of  the  mind  in 
knowing.  It  must  suffice,  in  this  connection,  to  rec- 
ognize the  fact  that  the  soul,  in  the  exercise  of  its 
will  power,  is  largely  the  controller  of  its  feelings,  as 
well  as  the  director  of  its  conscious  intellectual  ac- 
tivities. The  soul  may  energize  a  desire  by  a  con- 
curring purpose,  or  it  may  supplant  it  by  giving  at- 
tention to  objects  adapted  to  awaken  a  different  or 
contrary  desire.  By  an  act  of  will  any  impulsive 
feeling  may  be  resisted,  and  another  summoned  as  a 
motive  to  action.  Whether  a  desire  shall  pass  over 
into  a  purpose,  or  out  into  a  deed,  is  under  the  de- 
cision of  the  will — the  controlling  and  executive  power 
of  the  soul. 


THE  SENSIBILITY.  3 1 

Attention  may  also  be  called  to  the  fact  that  the 
capacity  or  power  of  the  soul  for  any  eYnotion,  affec- 
tion, or  desire  may  be  increased  by  its  culture  of 
repeated  exercise.  It  is  a  law  that  every  Feelings, 
act  of  the  soul  leaves  as  a  necessary  result  an  in- 
creased power  to  act  in  like  manner,  and  a  tendency 
to  act  again.  Power  and  tendency  are  the  necessary 
resultants  of  all  psychical  action.  In  harmony  with 
this  law,  the  psychical  feelings  may  all  be  cultivated 
by  appropriate  exercise.  It  is  possible  by  the  non- 
exercise  of  certain  feelings,  and  the  constant  exercise 
of  others,  to  create  in  man,  in  a  certain  sense,  a  new 
nature — to  substitute  for  passions  and  lusts  that  de- 
grade the  soul,  those  affections  and  desires  that  exalt 
and  make  beautiful  the  life.  Even  an  acquired  ap- 
petite may  be  supplanted  by  associating  with  the 
thought  of  it  feelings  sufficiently  unpleasant  and  re- 
pulsive to  banish  it  from  the  soul.  But  this  subjec- 
tion of  the  lower  nature  to  the  higher  involves  the 
agency  of  the  will — the  energizing  and  quickening  of 
right  feelings  by  a  controlling  purpose,  and  hence  the 
education  of  the  feelings  is  best  treated  in  connection 
with  the  training  of  the  will. 

Connection  of  Soul  and  Body. 

The  phenomena  of  the  sensibility  show  a  close  con^ 
nection  of  the  soul  and  the  body.  This  connection  is 
illustrated  by  the  following  facts: 

I.  The  feelings  affect  the  vital  functions  of  the  body, 
and   in  turn   are  affected   by  bodily  condi-      Mutually 
lions.     A  sudden  fright  or  an  intense  out-       Affected, 
burst  of  passion  may  paralyze  the  heart  or  the  brain ; 


32  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

intense  fear  or  grief  may  cause  tlie  hair  to  turn  white ; 
a  heavy  sorrow  may  impair  digestion,  enfeeble  the 
action  of  all  the  vital  organs,  and  hasten  the  progress 
of  disease.  On  the  other  hand,  joy,  hope,  and  kin- 
dred feelings  promote  the  health,  activity,  and  vigor 
of  all  the  bodily  powers.  "A  merry  heart  doth  good 
like  a  medicine." 

2.  The  feelings  have  a  bodily  manifestation.      Most 
of  the  emotions  and  affections  are  expressed  by  look, 

Bodily  Mani-  voicc.  Or  gesture.  Love,  hatred,  anger, 
festation.  pity,  cuvy,  ctc. ,  are  mirrored  in  the  face. 
The  more  permanent  states  of  feeling  are  manifested 
in  features  and  in  habitual  postures  and  movements 
of  the  body.  A  few  physiologists  have  gone  so  far 
as  to  deny  the  possibility  of  the  existence  of  an  emo- 
tion or  affection  apart  from  its  bodily  expression. 
Whatever  may  be  true  as  to  their  necessary  co-exist- 
ence, it  is  to  be  noted  that  the  physical  expression 
of  a  feeling  is  the  effect  and  not  the  cause.  There  is 
certainly  no  evidence  that  the  feeling  and  its  bodily 
expression  are  identical.  The  former  is  psychical ;  the 
latter  physical. 

3.  The   prevailing   feelings   not   only  determine  the 
features  and  expression   of  the    face,    but    mental   ac- 

Size  of  tivity,  especially  in  childhood  and  youth, 
the  Brain,  affccts  the  growth  of  the  brain,  the  special 
organ  of  the  mind.  The  fact  that  proper  exercise 
develops  the  muscles  and  other  tissues  of  the  body, 
indicates  that  mental  activity,  involving  brain  action, 
must  necessarily  affect  the  growth  of  the  brain,  and, 
this  being  true,  the  resulting  tendency  would  be  often, 
if  not  generally,  transmitted  from  parent  to  child.      As 


THE  SENSIBILITY.  33 

a  consequence,  the  more  intellectual  races  should, 
other  things  being  equal,  have  more  than  the  average 
size  of  brain.  Careful  investigations  have  shown  that 
there  is  this  general  correspondence  between  mental 
power  and  the  size  of  the  brain,  though  the  excep- 
tions are  so  numerous  that  no  safe  deductions  can  be 
based  on  brain  measurements.  There  is  nothing  in 
the  correspondence  that  shows  that  the  size  of  the 
brain  determines  or  causes  the  mental  power,  but  the 
facts  and  the  analogies  alike  indicate  that  the  varia- 
tion in  the  size  of  the  brain  is  the  effect  of  mental 
activity  of  the  individual  or  of  his  ancestors  or  of 
both.  The  mental  derangements  that  follow  injuries 
and  diseases  of  the  brain  show  the  dependence  of 
the  mind  on  the  nervous  organism  for  its  activity. 
The  soul  acts  and  manifests  itself  through  the  agency 
of  the  body,  and  when  the  body  fails  to  perform  its 
normal  function,  there  is,  as  a  consequence,  mental 
feebleness  or  aberration.  Insanity  and  delirium  are 
generally,  if  not  universally,  due  to  bodily  derange- 
ment. 

There  is  necessarily  a  general  harmony  between  the 
soul  and  the  body.  They  not  only  develop  together, 
though  not  always  in  the  same  ratio,  but  General 
their  activity  and  energy  generally  vary  Harmony, 
with  each  other.  When  the  vital  energies  of  the  body 
are  lowered  by  drowsiness,  languor,  and  disease,  the 
psychical  activities  are  depressed.  When  the  soul  is 
energized  by  strong  and  buoyant  emotions  and  de- 
sires, the  bodily  powers  respond  to  the  quickening 
influence. 


34 


ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 


-  °-  i- 


,_, 

a)  J  , 

hJ 

b 

(/2«5 

u 

u 

^— .— ' 

tM 

f=5 

rt     (/      . 

H 

c 

—    «    if! 

X 

u 

5     S     c 

H 

Mc/3  0   2;   oQ 

b. 

^ 

„; 

U 

t/2 

' 

> 

is 

hJ 

< 

c  S 

2 

< 

U 

>.7^ 

/', 

T^   > 

T3   I. 

i-l 

H 

cci2 

D 

o 

•^ 

5E 


•■?'S°     C-a 


I    I. 


r;         e<5 


' — , — '     t> 


THE  INTELLECT.  35 


THE  INTELLECT. 


The  Intellect  is  tJie  poivcr  of  the  soul  that  knoivs;  or, 
more  accurately,  the  soul  possessing  or  exercising  the 
poiver  of  knozi'ing. 

To  know  an  object  is  to  be  certain  that  it  is,  and 
hence  knowinsr  may  be  defined  as  the  per-     „       ,  ^ 

c>  J  ^  Knowledge. 

ceiving  of  the  certain  existence  of  an  ob- 
ject.    The  result  or  product  of  an  act  of  knowing  is 
knowledge. 

No  definition  can  impart  an  original  idea  of  the 
mental  act  called  knowing.  This  idea  can  alone  be 
gained  by  a  conscious  experience  of  the  act.  The 
above  definition  may,  however,  be  verified  by  refer- 
ence to  such  conscious  experience.  Knowing  and 
knowledge  are  here  used  as  generic  terms,  and,  as 
such,  include  all  intellectual  acts  and  products  char- 
acterized by  certainty. 

Objects    of   knowledge    include    (i)    the    acts    and 
states   of  the   soul  and    their  products,   called  subjeet- 
objects ;  (2)  external  material  objects,  called      objects  of 
object-objects;   and    (3)    the  relations  of  ob-     Knowledge, 
jects,   whether    discerned    intuitively    or  by    thought, 
called  relation-objects. 

Every  object  of  knowledge  must  be  real,  since  being 
involves  reality,  material  or  non-material.  An  object 
that  has  no  real  existence  can  not  be  known.  A 
psychical  object  is  as  real  as  a  material  object.  The 
knowing  of  an  object  also  involves  the  knowing  of 
its  necessary  relations,  and  these  are  as  real  as  the 
object  itself 


36  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 


The  Presentative  Power. 

The  soul  is  endowed  with  the  power  to  know  di- 
rectly and  immediately  present  objects  of  knowledge. 
This  is  called  the  Presentative  Pozver. 

The  objects  of  knowledge  which  may  be  present  to 
the  soul  and  directly  known,  include  (i)  the  acts  and 
states  of  the  soul,  and  the  soul  itself;  (2)  external 
material  objects,  including  material  phenomena ;  and 
(3)  the  necessary  relations  of  objects  of  knowledge,  as 
the  relations  of  space,  time,  cause  and  effect,  design, 
being,  etc. 

Consciousness. 

The  power  of  the  soul  to  know  its  own  acts  and 
states  and  itself  as  the  knower,  is  called  Conscmtsness. 
Consciousness  perceives  directly  and  immediately  the 
soul's  phenomena,  and  on  the  certainty  of  this  sub- 
jective knowledge  depends  the  validity  of  all  knowl- 
edge. If  I  do  not  know  my  feelings,  my  thoughts, 
and  my  purposes,  /  do  not  knozv  any  thing.  It  is  not 
meant  that  the  soul  is  conscious  of  all  its  acts  and 
states,  since  there  may  be  latent  or  unconscious  psy- 
chical processes,  but  the  acts  and  states  of  which  it 
is  conscious   it  knows  with  certainty. 

Every  act  of  consciousness  involves  the  perception 

of  the   soul   or  ego,   as  well   as   its  act  or  state.      We 

The  Ego       do   not   simply   know   an  act   of  knowing. 

Known.       |-,^j-  ^g  kuow  that  zve  are  knowing.      It  is 

not  important,  in  this  connection,  to  determine  whether 

we  are  conscious  of  the  e^o,  or  whether  we  know  the 


THE  INTELLECT.  37 

ego  by  what  has  been  called  rational  intuition.*  The 
important  truth  is  that  in  consciousness  we  know  both 
the  ego  and  its  act  or  state,  and  we  are  as  certain  that 
the  ego  is  as  we  are  that  its  act  or  state  is. 

It  is  further  to  be  noted  that  consciousness  is  an 
immediate  perception  of  the  psychical  act  or  state 
known.      It  does  not  succeed  the  phenom- 

'■  Conscious- 

enon  which  it  perceives,  but  it  perceives  it  ness 

zvJicn  it  ocairs,  and  hence  all  psychical  phe-      '"'"^ 
nomena    are    really    complex,    the    simplest    consisting 
of  an  act  or  state  of  the  ego   and  the    perceiving   of 
such  act  or  state. 

It  is  an  obvious  fact  of  experience  that  the  soul  is 
not  equally  conscious  of  all  its  acts  and  states,  the 
degree   of  consciousness  varying   from    the      _.  , 

£3  y       o  Degrees  of 

faintest   to   the    clearest    perception.      It    is  con- 

an  equally  obvious  experience  that  the  dis- 
tinctness of  consciousness  may  be  increased  by  direct- 
ing   or   applying   the   mind   to    the    act    or   state    per- 
ceived,  thus   giving  greater   energy  to   the   perceptive 
act,  and  greater  vividness  to  the  object  perceived. 

The  exercise  of  this  power  of  active  self-directian, 
with  which  the  soul  is  endowed,  is  called  attention. 
Attention  has  many  degrees,  varying  from 

^        ,  ^        fc>  Attention. 

an    intense   concentration    of  the   mind    on 

an  object  to  a  slight  directive  energ)-,  and  the  soul  is 


■■■■The  writer  inclines  to  the  view  that  we  are  directly  conscious 
of  the  ego  as  well  as  its  phenomena.  It  is  true  that  rational  in- 
tuition may  apprehend  the  necessity  of  an  ego,  but  how  can  intui- 
tion apprehend  the  necessity  of  a  particular  ego?  Further,  if  the 
soul  is  conscious  of  the  intuition,  and  then  identifies  the  necessary 
subject  with  itself,  such  identification  comes  very  near  at  least  to 
being  conscious  of  itself! 


38  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

conscious  of  many  objects  to  which  it  gives  Httle  or 
no  attention.  It  is  thus  seen  that  while  conscious- 
ness may  be  attentive  or  non-attentive,  it  is  very  dif' 
ficult  in  practical  experience  to  determine  the  line 
that  separates  the  one  from  the  other. 

This  self-active  principle  of  the  soul,  manifested  in 
attention,  is  an  attribute  of  the  iviil,  or,  more  accu- 
rately, of  the  soul  in  its  power  of  willing.  It  is  not 
only  present  in  attentive  consciousness,  but  in  all  the 
voluntary  activities  of  the  mind.  Attention  is  the 
energizer  and  quickener  of  all  the  mental  powers. 

Sense -Perception. 

The  soul  is  endowed  with  the  power  to  know  di- 
rectly present  material  objects.  This  power  is  called 
Perception,  and,  since  material  objects  are  perceived 
by  means  of  the  special  senses,  it  may  be  called 
Sciiscr  Perception.  This  appellation  distinguishes  the 
power  from  consciousness  and  the  act  from  the  per- 
ception of  psychical  phenomena.  Sense-perception 
may  be  defined  as  tJie  pozvcr  of  the  soul  that  knoivs 
directly  material  objects. 

The  special  senses  involved  in  sense-perception  are 
touch,   sight,   hearing,    taste,   smell,   and   the   muscular 

Special        sense.     The  function  of  the  special  sense- 

Senses.  organs  is  to  receive  impressions  or  vibra- 
tions from  material  objects,  and  convey  them  to  the 
scnsorium  proper  (p.  24),  and  thus  to  its  central 
organ,  the  brain. 

The  physical  conditions  or  media  of  sense-percep- 
tion   are    (i)    the    sensorium,     including    the    special 


THE  INTELLECT.  39 

senses;  (2)  the  presence  of  a  material  object  adapted 
to  the  excitation  of  the  sensorium  through  the  senses;* 
and  (3)  the  excitement  of  the  sensorium  to       physical 
such  a  degree  as  to  occasion  sensations  of    conditions. 
which  the  soul  is  conscious.     When  these  conditions  co- 
exist, the  soul  perceives  the  external  material  object. 

The  investigations  of  physiologists  have  thrown 
much  light  on  the  manner  in  which  material  objects 
affect  the  different  sense-organs,  and  also  sensorial 
on  the  excitation  and  action  of  the  sen-  Phenomena, 
sorium,  and  especially  of  the  brain,  but  they  neces- 
sarily stop  with  sensorial  phenomena.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  cross  the  line  that  divides  the  physical  and 
the  psychical,  and  explain  physiologically  the  action 
of  the  soul  (p.    13). 

Sense-perception  involves  three  co-existent  psychical 
elements;  viz,  (i)  sensation,  a  feeling;  (2)  the  per- 
ceiving of  the  sensation,  an  act  of  con-  psychicai 
sciousness ;  and  (3)  the  perception  of  the  Elements. 
material  object,  or  perception  proper.  Rut  suice  the 
sensation  and  the  perceiving  or  being  conscious  of  it 
are  necessarily  united,  these  two  united  acts  may  be 
considered  one,  and  called  the  conscious  sensation, 
and  thus  the  three  acts  may  be  considered  as  only 
tv/o  distinct  elements — the  conscious  sensation  and  pcr- 


■■■■  There  is  an  apparent  exception  to  this  condition  in  the  case  of 
sensations  by  an  abnormal  or  subjective  excitement  of  the  sen- 
sorium, as  the  sensations  of  light,  sound,  and  taste  caused  by  elec- 
tricity, the  sensation  of  light  occasioned  by  a  blow  on  the  head  or 
other  contusion  of  the  brain,  the  ringing  in  the  ears  occasioned  by 
quinine,  etc.  But  these  phenomena  are  only  apparent  exceptions, 
since,  while  the  sensations  occur,  there  is  no  actual  perception  of 
external  material  objects. 


40  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

ception  proper.  The  mind  in  sense-perception  is  con- 
scious of  the  sensation  in  the  locus  of  the  sensorial 
excitation,  and  directly  perceives  the  material  object 
or  external  cause.  If,  for  example,  a  piece  of  ice  in 
the  darkness  be  touched  with  the  hand,  it  feels  cold, 
smooth,  and  moist,  and  through  these  conscious  sen- 
sations the  mind  perceives  the  object  touched  to  be 
ice,  that  is,  it  perceives  the  ice. 

The  special  sensations  are,  as  a  class,  less  obtrusive, 
and  less  definitely  located  than  the  organic  and  vital 
sensations,  excepting  those  that  are  painful.  The 
most  obtrusive  and  definitely  located  of  the  special 
sensations  are  those  of  touch  ;  and,  generally,  the  less 
obtrusive  the  sensation,  the  more  acute  the  perception 
of  the  external  cause.  The  touch  is,  in  many  respects, 
the  leading  sense. 

Psychologists  have  made  various  attempts  to  ex- 
plain how  the  mind  passes  from  its  sensations  to  the 
Theory  kuowiug  of  the  related  material  objects, 
and  Fact.  Most  of  the  theoHcs  submitted  have  the 
fatal  defect  of  assuming  the  activity  of  mental  powers 
tJiat  depend  on  sense- perception  for  siicJi  activity.'^''  The 
young  child  sees  material  objects  long  before  it  can 
make  an  inference  or  reason  from  effect  to  cause. 
Whether  the  act  of  perception  be  explicable  or  not, 
it  will  suffice,  for  our  present  purpose,  to  know  the 
fact   that   the   mind    is    endowed   with    the   power   to 


■■•■Several  of  these  theories  involve  a  knowledge  of  the  structure 
and  function  of  the  sense-organs  and  the  sensorium,  ■whereas  the 
mind  in  sense-perception  does  not  consciously  perceive  either  the 
sensorium  or  sensorial  action.  It  is  said  that  even  Aristotle  did 
not  know  that  the  eye  has  a  retina,  much  less  that  visual  objects 
are  imaged   thereon. 


THE  INTELLECT.  4I 

perceive  material  objects  when  the  necessary  physical 
conditions  exist. 

Sense-perceptions  may  be  classified  as  original  and 
acquired. 

An    original    perception    is   the   perception   of  phe- 
nomena appropriate  to  a  given  sense  by  the  exercise 
of   that   sense.     The    original   tactual    per-       original 
ceptions  are   perceived   through   the  sense     Perception. 
of  touch ;  the  original  perceptions  of  color  through  the 
eye  ;  of  sound,  through  the  ear ;  of  smell,  through  the 
nose ;    of  taste,   through   the  organs  of  taste ;   and  of 
weight  and   resistance  or   pressure,   through  the    mus- 
cular  sense.     A    completed    perception    through    any 
sense   or   senses   involves   discrimination ;    that   is,    the 
discerning  of  the  object  perceived   as  separate  or  dis- 
tinct   from    other    perceived    or    known    objects;    and' 
hence  discrimination  is  one  of  the  primary  acts  of  the 
mind. 

An  acquired  perception  is  the  perception  of  phe- 
nomena appropriate  to  one  sense  by  means  of  an- 
other sense.  We  learn  by  experience  to  Acquired 
perceive  by  the  eye  that  a  surface  is  Perception, 
smooth,  or  a  rod  of  iron  hot.  A  smooth  surface 
"looks  smooth,"  and  iron,  heated  to  a  red  or  white 
heat,  "looks  hot."  We  learn  to  perceive  that  a  cask 
is  empty  or  full  by  rapping  on  it;  that  the  wind  is 
blowing  by  the  waving  of  the  trees ;  that  the  ground 
is  frozen  by  the  noise  made  by  a  passing  wagon ;  that 
a  church  edifice  is  near  by  the  notes  of  the  organ, 
etc.  These  acquired  perceptions  all  depend  on  the 
prior  existence  of  the  original  perceptions.  A  person 
born  blind  never  gains  an  idea  of  color,  and  a  person 
born  deaf  never  gains  an  idea  of  sound.     The  senses 

\V.  l'.-4. 


42  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

of  touch  and  sight  are  very  closely  associated,  and 
the  action  of  all  the  senses  is  intimately  blended  in 
experience. 

The  acquired  perceptions  involve  the  activity  of  the 
higher  intellectual  powers,  as  memory,  judgment,  in- 
duction, etc.,  and  the  facility  with  which  the  mind 
interprets  various  sensations  is  marvelous.  The  mind 
perceives  much  more  than  the  senses  disclose. 

In  perception  the  senses  may  be  directed,  ener- 
gized,  and  made  acute  by  attention.      The  directions, 

Effects  of  Listen !  Hark !  Look !  See !  are  appeals 
Attention,  ^q  ^^  ^yj]|  ^q  clii-ect  and  quicken  percep- 
tive power,  and  how  marvelously  acute  may  any  sense 
be  thus  made — or,  more  accurately,  the  mind  acting 
through  any  sense.  By  an  act  of  will,  the  mind  may 
be  held  to  the  observing  of  only  one  of  the  many 
objects  presented  to  it  by  a  single  sense,  even  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  others.  An  auditor  may,  for  ex- 
ample, attend  to  only  one  voice  in  a  chorus,  hearing 
it  distinctly,  and  so  absorbed  may  be  the  mind  as  to 
hear  only  the  one  voice.  The  will  may  also  lower 
or  quite  suspend  the  activity  of  one  sense,  while  an- 
other sense  is  directed  and  energized.  An  observer 
may  become  so  absorbed  in  seeing  the  General  of  the 
Army,  marching  at  the  head  of  a  column,  as  not  con- 
sciously to  hear  the  band  of  music  which  precedes 
him. 

As  a  general  rule,  the  mind  distinctly  perceives 
only  those  objects  to  which  it   gives  some   degree  of 

Degree  of  attention — -the  exceptions  being  the  cases 
Attention,  jj-^  -^yiiid^  |-|^g  mind  is  spontaneously  in- 
cited   and    held    by    the   attractiveness    of   the    object 


THE  INTELLECT.  43 

perceived.  An  observer  may  pass  through  a  gallery 
of  paintings  with  mind  fully  absorbed  in  something 
else,  and  may  go  away  with  only  an  indistinct  im- 
pression of  the  collection,  or  he  may  pass  through 
without  giving  special  attention  to  any  of  the  paint- 
ings, and  carry  away  only  a  general  impression  of  the 
collection.  If,  however,  the  observer  carefully  studies 
one  or  more  of  the  paintings,  these  may  be  recalled 
with  distmctness  even  after  the  impression  of  the 
whole  collection  has  become  confused  and  indefinite. 
The  same  is  true  of  the  figures  or  objects  in  a  single 
painting,  all  of  which  are  at  once  imaged  on  the  retina 
of  the  eye.  An  observer  of  West's  "Christ  Re- 
jected" may  direct  his  attention  almost  exclusively 
to  the  Christ,  or  to  Christ  and  Pilate,  or  to  Christ, 
Pilate,  the  High  Priest,  and  the  prostrate  Magdalene, 
and  afterwards  in  recalling  the  painting  only  the  figure 
or  figures  thus  closely  observed  will  be  clear  and  dis- 
tinct. These  facts  show  that  the  permanency  of  the 
mental  results  of  perception  depends  largely  on  the 
degree  of  attention  that  directs  the  perceptive  act — a 
fact  that  has  an  important  bearing  on  teaching. 

It  is  to  be  noted,  in  this  connection,  that  while  the 
mind  may  be  directed  and  the  senses  energized  by 
mere   force    of  will,    the    attention   is   most 

Interest. 

easily  given  when  the  mind  is  attracted  to 
or  interested  in  the  object  observed.      Interest  invites 
and  sustains  attention,  and  this  fact  bears  directly  on 
the  art  of  teaching. 

It  is  also  to  be  observed  that  attention  in  sense- 
perception  involves  sensorial  or  nervous  action.  The 
eye,   the   car,   and  the   other  senses   are  not    only  di- 


44  ELEMENTS  OE  PEDAGOGY. 

rected,  but  are  quickened  by  means  of  nervous  en- 
ergy or  action  imparted  by  the  will,  and  close  at- 
Nervous  tcution  taxcs  and  rapidly  exhausts  this 
Energy.  ncrvous  energy.  When  the  amount  of 
disposable  nervous  energy  is  exhausted  or  greatly  re- 
duced, there  is  a  conscious  decline  in  the  power  of 
attention.  This  fact  has  also  an  important  bearing  on 
teaching,  and  especially  on  the  teaching  of  children. 

Intuition. 

The  soul  is  also  endowed  with  the  power  to  know 
directly  and  immediately  the  necessary  relations  of 
objects.      This  intellectual  power  is  called  Intuition. 

The  necessary  relations  known  by  intuition  include 
the  relations  of  space,  time,    being,    substance  and  at- 

Reiations  tribute,  causc  and  effect,  means  and  end, 
Perceived,  dcsigu,  ctc.  Ouc  or  morc  of  these  rela- 
tions condition  the  perception  of  every  object  of 
knowledge,  since  the  knowing  of  an  object  involves 
tJie  knozving  of  its  necessary  relations.  The  intuitive 
perception  of  extension  is  clearly  involved  in  the 
perception  of  an  extended  material  object,  and  the  in- 
tuitive perception  of  time  is  involved  in  the  knowing 
of  successive  events. 

Intuition,    like    sense-perception   and   consciousness, 

has    its    necessary    conditions    of    activity,    and,   when 

these  conditions  exist,  the  mind  by  an  im- 

Conditions. 

mediate  and  inexplicable  act  perceives  the 
involved  relation.  One  of  the  conditions  of  every 
original  intuition  is  that  the  necessary  relation  be 
presented  to  the  mind  i)i  the  concrete.  The  mind  first 
perceives  the  relation  of  space  in  the  concrete,  for  ex- 


THE  INTELLECT.  45 

ample,  in  the  perception  of  an  extended  object  as 
extended.  It  thus  intuitively  perceives  the  relation  of 
space.  The  relation  of  time  is  originally  perceived 
in  the  perception  of  events  or  phenomena  as  succeed- 
ing each  other.  These  relations  of  space  and  time  are 
not  discerned  by  sense -perception,  since  they  condi- 
tion sense-perception,   but  are  perceived  intuitively.* 

All  attempts  to  explain  the  intuitions  of  space, 
time,  being,  causation,  etc.,  as  inductions  of  expe- 
rience, involve  the  absurdity  of  explaining  intuitions  not 
an  act  by  a  process  that  is  conditioned  by  inductions. 
such  act.  Every  induction  is  based  upon  and  involves 
one  or  more  of  these  intuitions.  The  theory  that  the 
idea  of  extension  is  derived  from  the  mind's  connec- 
tion with  an  extended  sensorium,  involves  the  intui- 
tive perception  of  the  sensorium  as  cxtemied. 

Presentative  Products. 

Every  presentative  act  of  the  mind  results  in  a  psy- 
chical product,  and  this  product  varies  with  the  pro- 
ducing act. 


"•^Intuition  is  considered  by  many  psychologists  as  an  act  of  the 
reason,  but,  when  thus  treated,  it  is  made  to  include  thought  proc- 
esses as  well  as  the  presentative  act  that  is  considered  intuition  in 
the  above  analysis.  Intuition  is  not  the  rational  apprehension  of 
the  necessity  or  ■tinirersality  of  a  necessary  relation,  or  its  generaliza- 
tion, but  the  direct  and  immediate  perception  of  the  relation  when 
presented  to  the  mind  in  the  concrete.  These  perceived  relations 
are  expressed  by  such  simple  terms  as  before,  after,  aver,  under,  cause, 
effect,  etc.  These  necessary  relations  are  as  directly  and  immediately 
perceived  by  the  mind  as  are  the  sensible  phenomena  of  material 
objects,  and  are  as  clearly  presentative  acts.  These  primary  intui- 
tions are  the  elements  which  are  generalized  into  such  universal 
truths  as  "Every  event   has  a  cause."  » 


46  ELEMENTS  OF  FED  AGOG  Y. 

The  perceiving  or  knowing  of  a  feeling,  as  an  emo- 
tion or  a   desire,    results    in  a   product,   and    it  is  this 
product    (not   the    feeling)    that   is   recalled 

Ideas.  ^  ^  /  \ 

and  reproduced  by  memory  (p.  49).  The 
products  of  consciousness  are  iWras/''  and  the  same 
term  is  applied  to  the  products  of  intuitive  acts.  In- 
tuitive ideas  are  also  called  iiitnitiojis. 

The  perception  of  a  material  object  results  in  a  psy- 
chical product,  and  this  may  be  simple  or  compound. 
When    this    product    is    the    result   of   one 

Percept.  ^ 

.  perceptive  act  through  a  single  sense,  it  is 
called  a  poxcpt,  and  hence  a  percept  is  the  simplest 
sense-product. 

When  the  percepts,    resulting   from-  several   percep- 
tive   acts  through    one  or  more  senses,   arc  combined 
by    synthesis    into    a    psychical   whole,   the 

Sense-con-  J         J  r    j 

cept  resulting  product  or  image  is  called  a  con- 

mage.  ccpt,  and  the  synthetic  act  is  called  con- 
ception. But  to  distinguish  this  individual  concept 
from  the  general  or  thought  concept,  hereafter  con- 
sidered (p.  62),  it  is  called  a  sciisc-aviccpf,  and  to  dis- 
tinguish the  producing  synthetic  act  from  the  thought 
process  that  forms  the  general  concept,  it  is  called 
scusc-conccption.  Whether  a  sense -concept  is  composed 
of  few  or  many  elements,    it  always  represents  an  in- 


*  A  reference  to  any  good  English  dictionary  will  suffice  to  show 
that  the  term  idea  is  applied  to  almost  every  mental  product,  from 
the  simplest  percept  to  the  most  complex  notion  or  conception. 
For  the  purposes  of  this  treatise,  it  has  seemed  best  to  apply  the 
term  to  those  intellectual  ])roducls  which  are  simple  and  not  imaged. 
A  sense-percept  may  be  ideated  or  made  abstract,  and  the  result  is 
then  an  idea.  We  have  abstract  ideas  of  color,  form,  hardness, 
s«ioothness,   roughness,  etc. 


THE  INTELLECT.  4/ 

dividual  object,  as  a  tree  or  a  horse,  and  hence  it  may 
properly  be  called  an  individual  concept. 

It  is  thus  seen  that  prcsentative  products  are  called 
ideas,  percepts,  and  sense-concepts,  or  individual  con- 
cepts, and  that  these  products  all  represent  individual ■ 
objects  of  kiunvledge. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  ^ense-concepts  are  not  ne- 
cessarily or  usually  composed  exclusively  of  percepts. 

They    may  also   contain   the   ideas   of  con- 
Apperception. 

sciousness  and  intuition,  and  elements  fur- 
nished by  imagination  and  thought  (p.  41) ;  and  hence 
sense-concepts  can  be  only  partially  imaged.  This  fact 
is  an  objection  to  the  calling  of  sense-concepts  images, 
as  has  been  proposed.  It  is,  indeed,  a  question 
whether  all  percepts  can  be  imaged.  It  is  thus  seen 
that  the  act  of  perception  is  accompanied  by  associated 
acts,  the  resulting  products  being  marvelously  united. 
This  adding  of  other  intellectual  acts  to  perception 
proper,  thus  enlarging  and  modifying  the  perceptive 
product,   is  called  apperception. 

Max's  Condition  with  only  Presextative  Power. 

What  would  be  man's  intellectual  condition  were  he 
endowed  only  with  presentative  power — the  power  to 
know  present  objects  of  knowledge  ?  It  is  evident 
that  the  individual  products  of  consciousness,  sense- 
perception,  and  intuition  would  constitute  the  sum 
total  of  human  knowledge,  and-  each  of  these  would 
vanish  zvith  the  act  that  produces  it.  There  would  be 
no  past  in  consciousness  and  no  anticipated  future. 
The  conscious  psychical  life  of  every  human  being 
would  be  its  present  existence  -  a  moving  point.      The 


48  ELEMEN  rS  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 

so-called  universe  of  man's  knowledge  would  be 
bounded  by  the  limited  reach  of  the  physical  senses, 
and,  without  the  aid  of  the  higher  mental  powers,  as 
in  acquired  perception,  this  reach  would  indeed  be 
very  limited.  The  sensorial  effects  produced  by  ma- 
terial objects  through  the  senses  are  at  best  but  im- 
perfect indicia  of  what  the  mind  actually  perceives  and 
knows.  The  powers  of  thought  discern  vastly  more 
than  the  eye  or  other  sense  discloses  (p.  42). 

The  Representative  Power. 

The  soul  is  endowed  with  the  further  power  to  rep- 
resent and  reknow  objects  previously  known.  If,  for 
Represen-  example,  I  look  at  a  tree  and  then  close 
tation.  Yay  eyes,  I  see  the  tree  in  "my  mind's 
eye,"*  and  yet  what  I  see  when  my  eyes  are  closed 
is  not  the  real  tree,  but  that  which  represents  and 
recalls  it.  The  first  of  these  acts  (the  seeing  of  the 
tree)  is  sense-perception,  and  its  product  is  an  image 
or  sense-concept ;  the  second  act  (the  seeing  of  the 
tree  in  the  mind's  eye)  is  representation.  Representa- 
tion may  be  defined  as  tJic  representing  and  reknoiving 
of  objects  previously  hioxvn  or  experienced. 

The    recalling    and    representing   of  an    object    pre- 
viously known    involves   primarily  the  reproducing  of 
What  re-      tile  mcutal  product  which  resulted  from  its 
produced.      previous    kuowiug    or    cognition,    and    this 
involves  a  self-active  power  of  the  soul.      The  distinc- 


®Dr.   Porter  uses  a  simil.ir  illustration  with   this  quotation: 

Hamlet. — My  father — methinks  I  see  my  father ! 

Horatio. — Oh,   where,   my  lord? 

Hamkt.  —  In   my  mind's  eye,    Horatio.  — SHAKESPEARE. 


THE  INTELLECT.  49 

tion  between  representation  and  sense -perception  is 
obvious.  Sense-perception  gives  the  original  psychical 
product,  whether  a  percept  or  sense-concept;  repre- 
sentation recalls  and  reproduces  this  original  product. 
Sense-perception  is  a  presentative  act,  the  object  per- 
ceived or  known  being  present ;  representation  repro- 
duces the  presentative  product,  and  thus  represents 
the  object  previously  known.* 

But  representation  is  not  limited  to  the  reproduc- 
tion of  the  products  of  sense-perception.  It  repro- 
duces, in  like  manner,  other  presentative  products 
(the  ideas  of  consciousness  and  intuition)  and  the 
products  of  all  other  mental  acts,  including  thought 
products  and  the  creations  of  the  imagination  (p.  57). 
It  is,  however,  to  be  specially  noted  that  the  feelings 
and  other  experiences  of  the  soul  arc  not  reproduced 
in  representation,  but  the  ideas  of  these  feelings  and 
experiences  (p.  46). 

The  continuation  of  the  power  to  reproduce  the 
products  of  past  psychical  experience  is  called  retention, 
and  hence  retention  is  a  condition  of  rep- 

^  Retention. 

resentation.     When  this  reproductive  power 
is  not  retained,   representation  is  impossible.      It  is  to 
be  observed  that  what  is  retained  is  not  the  psychical 
product,    whether   an    idea,    concept,    or   thought,    but 
tJic  poiver  to  reproduce  it. 


*  Dugald  Stewart  uses  conception  to  denote  representation  as  lieie 
described,  but  it  seems  better  to  use  the  term  conception  to  desig- 
nate the  forming  of  the  general  concept  (jj.  62),  and  sense-con- 
ception to  denote  the  synthesis  of  the  original  sense-concept  or 
image  (p.  46).  Several  psychologists  include  both  the  reproduc- 
tion of  the  sense-concept  and  its  original  synthesis  in  the  acts  of 
the  imagination.     There  is  an  advantage  in  using  different  terms  to 

denote  these  different  acts  and  processes. 
W.  P.-5. 


50  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

This  fact  satisfactorily  explains  what  are  called  "the 
laws  of  association."  These  laws  have  been  often  re- 
Laws  of  ferred  to  some  condition  or  force  external 
Association,  ^q  ^j-jg  mind,  as  the  laws  of  cerebral  activ- 
ity, the  attraction  of  ideas,  etc.,  but  representation  is 
a  mental  act,  and  the  active  principle  is  in  the  mind 
itself  The  conditions  of  psychical  action  may  be 
external,  but  the  principle  of  such  action  must  be 
internal  or  subjective.  This  subjective  principle  of 
representation  is  stated  by  Dr.  Porter  (Human  Intel- 
lect, p.  282)  in  these  words: 

' '  TJic  mind  tends  to  act  again  more  readily  in  a  man- 
ner or  form  zvhich  is  similar  to  any  in  which  it  has  acted 
before,  in  any  defined  exertion  of  its  oiergy. 

This  principle  of  psychical  tendency  explains  all  the 
phenomena  of  representation,  and  is  in  harmony  with 
all  its  known  conditions,  including  bodily  states,  states 
of  feeling,  special  associations,  energy  of  original  ac- 
tivity, vividness  of  apprehension,  strength  of  attending 
emotion,  recentness  of  experience,  frequency  of  recur- 
rence, coincidence  with  prevalent  habits,  etc.  The 
facility  with  which  the  mind  reproduces  the  product  of 
any  past  experience  depends  on  one  or  more  of  these 
conditions,  for  the  reason  that  they  increase  the  ten- 
dency of  the  mind  to  act  again  as  it  has  acted  before. 
The  two  enduring  results  of  all  psychical  activity  are 
pozver  and  tendency,  and  the  greater  the  energy  and 
intensity  of  the  act,  the  greater,  other  things  being 
equal,  the  resulting  power  and  tendency  (p.   31). 

This  principle  has  a  wide  application  in  education, 
it  not  only  applies  to  the  training  of  the  memory 
and  other  mental  powers,  but  to  the  cultivation  of  the 
feelings,    the  will,   and  even  the  bodily  powers. 


^ 


THE  INTELLECT.  5  I 


Simple  Representation. 


It  is  possible  for  the  mind  to  reproduce  the  product 
of  a  past  cognition  or  experience  without  reknowing 
or  recognizing  the  object  represented  as  one  previously- 
known.  I  may,  for  example,  see  "in  my  mind's  eye" 
a  face,  previously  seen,  without  recognizing  it.  In 
like  manner,  I  may  recall  a  verbal  expression  or  a 
sentiment  without  recognizing  it  as  an  expression  or 
sentiment  previously  heard  or  known.  In  these  ex- 
amples the  products  of  past  cognition  or  experience 
are  simply  reproduced  in  consciousness,  and  are  thus 
represented  to  the  mind.  This  is  the  simplest  form 
or  act  of  representation,  and  hence  is  properly  desig- 
nated- as  simple  rcpirsoitation.  Simple  representation 
may  be  described  as  representation  ivitJiout  recognition. 
It  is  also  called  phantasy,  but  phantasy  includes  other 
phenomena  (p.  58). 

Memory. 

The  mind  has  the  power  not  only  to  represent  ob- 
jects previously  known,  but  to  reknow  or  recognize 
them  as  objects  of  previous  cognition.  This  includes 
not  only  the  representation  of  the  objects  previously 
known,  but  also  the  representation  of  their  essential 
relations  of  time,  place,  and  the  ego.  This  complete 
representation  of  the  soul's  past  experience  \s Memory. 
Memory  may  be  defined  as  the  power  of  the  soul  to 
represent  and  reknoiv  objects  previously  knoivn  or  expe- 
rienced. 

It  is   thus  seen    that  an   act  of  memory  consists  of 
two  distinct  acts;    viz,    (i)  the   rcpresenta-     Elements  of 
tion  of  an  object  previously  known  (includ-       Memory. 
ing    recalling    or    recollection    and    reproduction,)    and 


52  EL  EME.\  -TS  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 

(2)  tlie  reknowing  of  the  object  as  previously  known. 
In  other  words,  memory  inckides  simple  representation 
and  recognition,  the  latter  being  the  characteristic  ele- 
ment. 

It  is  not  essential  to  an  act  of  memory  that  the  two 
elements  of  representation  and  recognition  be  equally 
full  and  distinct.  The  representation  may  be  full  and 
vivid,  and  the  .  recognition  partial  and  faint,  or  the 
recognition  may  be  full  and  clear,  and  the  representa- 
tion only  a  faint  outline.  I  may,  for  example,  vividly 
recall  a  painting  once  seen,  or  a  startling  cry  of  dis- 
tress once  heard,  but  may  not  be  able  definitely  to 
locate  either  in  time  or  place,  only  certainly  knowing 
that  1  once  saw  the  painting  or  heard  the  cry.  This 
would  be  an  example  of  vivid  representation  and  im- 
perfect recognition.  On  the  other  hand,  I  may  recall 
with  great  distinctness  the  time  and  place  of  a  mete- 
oric shower,  and  my  feelings  as  I  witnessed  the  grand 
display,  and  yet  I  may  be  able  to  reproduce  only  a 
faint  image  of  the  scene.  This  would  be  a  case  of 
full  and  clear  recognition  with  partial  and  faint  rep- 
resentation. 

In   perfect   memorj'  both    representation  and    recog- 
nition arc  full  and  clear ;   in  imperfect  memory  one  at 
Perfect  and     Ic^st    is    partial    or   indistinct.      As   a   rule, 
Imperfect      representation    is    more    or   less    imperfect. 

Memory.  _,,    .        .  ,    .     ^  ,  ,  -  ,  , 

1  his  IS  chieny  due  to  the  lact  that  the 
mind  does  not  give  equal  attention  to  all  the  elements 
that  make  up  a  psychical  experience,  and,  as  a  con- 
sequence, the  mind  does  not  equally  retain  the  power 
to  reproduce  them.  The  elements  that  receive  the 
greatest  attention  and  involve  the  intensest  psychical 
activity  are  the  most  readily  recalled.     The   fact  that 


THE  INTELLECT.  53 

the  several  elements  of  a  complex  past  experience 
are  reproduced  one  by  one,  by  successive  acts,  con- 
tributes to  this  result.  The  eye,  for  example,  may 
take  in  a  landscape  at  a  glance,  but  the  resulting 
image  is  represented  to  the  mind  by  a  succession  of 
acts  under  the  conditions  of  association,  and  only  the 
more  distinct  features  are  reproduced. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  while  the  relations  of  time 
and  place  may  not  be  distinctly  represented  and  rec- 
ognized in  every  act  of  memory,  the  mind  The  Ego 
must  clearly  recognize  as  its  own  the  psy-  '"  Memory, 
chical  experience  represented.  When  this  ego  rela- 
tion is  not  distinctly  recognized,  the  act  is  not  mem- 
ory, but  simple  representation. 

The  question  has  often  been  raised  whether  abso- 
lute forgetfulness  is  possible.  Numerous  well-authen- 
ticated examples  of  recalling  apparently  porget- 
long-forgottcn  acquisitions  and  experiences  fulness, 
strengthen  the  theory  that  the  mind  never  absolutely 
loses  the  power  to  represent  any  conscious  experi- 
ence, and  that  apparent  forgetfulness  is  due  to  unfa- 
vorable conditio)is  of  soul  or  body. 

Attention  is  also  called  to  the  fact  that  memory  does 
not  represent  the  actual  objects  previously  known,  but 
the    products   of   their   previous    cognition,  ideas 

and  this  is  true  of  all  psychical  experi-  Recalled, 
ences.  The  memory  of  a  grief,  for  example,  is  not 
the  grief  refelt,  though  the  memory  may  awaken  a 
like  grief.  Memory  recalls  only  ideas  of  the  joys  and 
sorrows,  pleasures  and  pains,  hopes  and  fears,  choices 
and  denials,  spiritual  victories  and  defeats,  which  we 
may  have  experienced  (p.   49). 


54  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

The  so-called  arts  of  memory  are  based  on  the  con- 
ditions of  representation  already  stated  (p.  52).  The 
Arts  of        obvious    and    essential    fact    is    that,    other 

Memory.  conditions  being  equal,  tJie  mhid  recalls 
most  readily  wJiat  it  apprcJicnds  most  clearly.  But  a 
clear  and  vivid  apprehension  depends  on  close  atten- 
tion, and  this  depends  on  active  interest,  which  is 
usually  excited  by  emotion,  affection,  or  desire.  These 
subjective  conditions  are  modified  by  bodily  health, 
mental  habits,  frequency  of  repetition,  nature  of  asso- 
ciations, freedom  from  mental  distractions,  etc.  Most 
of  these  conditions  are  included  in  Coleridge's  three 
memory  arts  for  the  student ;  viz,  sound  logic,  hcaltliy 
digestion,  and  a  clear  conscience.  The  first  of  these 
arts  is  intellectual,  the  second  physical,  and  the  third 
moral. 

The  one  comprehensive  rule  for  the  cultivation  of 
the  memory  is  its  exercise  ivitJi  fidelity  to  tlie  tnith. 
Cultivation  The  proper  exercise  of  any  power  increases 
of  Memory.  j|-  Q^^  ^j^^  ^^^  ^j^g  mcmory  is  no  excep- 
tion. True  memory  involves  a  faithful  reproduction 
of  past  experience,  and  its  exercise  may  be  vitiated 
by  modifications  suggested  by  prejudice,  desire,  or 
fancy.  The  habit  of  mixing  what  is  imagined  or  con- 
jectured, with  what  actually  occurred,  weakens  the 
memory  and  lessens  its  trustworthiness.  Dr.  Porter 
truly  says  "that,  while  the  liar  has  more  pressing 
need  of  a  good  memory  than  other  men,  he  is  of  all 
men  the  least  likely  to  possess  it."  (Human  Intellect, 
P-  325). 

Memory  may   be    distinguished   as    sponta)ieous    and 
intentional.      In    spontaneous    memory  the   will   is  pas- 


THE  INTELLECT.  55 

sive,  the  representative  act  being  involuntary ;  in  in- 
tentional memory  the  will  is  active  and  directing,  and 
the  representative  act  is  voluntary.  The  Kinds  oi 
several  varieties  of  memory,  as  verbal,  his-  Memory, 
toric,  philosophic,  mathematical,  etc.,  are  readily  ex- 
plained by  the  principles  and  conditions  of  memory 
above  given. 

Imagination. 

The  mind  is  also  endowed  with  the  power  to  mod- 
ify and  recombine  the  reproduced  ideas  and  images 
of  objects  previously  known.  This  modifying  repre- 
sentative power  is  called  the  Imagination.  The  im- 
agination may  be  defined  as  tJie  pozucr  of  the  wind  to 
represent  and  modify  or  recombine  objects  previously 
known.  * 

It  is  this  power  to  modify  and  recombine  past  psy- 
chical experiences  that  distinguishes  the  imagination 
from  memory.  Memory  represents  an  ob-  Memory  and 
ject  as  it  was  previously  known.  It  faith-  imagination, 
fully  reproduces  the  products  of  past  experience  —  tell- 
ing the  truth.  The  imagination  changes  these  indi- 
vidual products  or  groups,  and  combines  them  at  will. 
The  memory,  for  example,  reproduces  the  image  of  a 
tree  as  formed  by  seeing  it ;  the  imagination  changes 
this  image  in  one  or  several  respects.      The  image  re- 


*  Several  psychologists  define  the  imay;ination  as  tlie  imaging 
power  of  the  mind,  and  include  among  its  acts  the  synthesis  of 
sense-concepts,  and  the  reproducing  of  tlie  sense-products  in  rep- 
resentation and  memory.  According  to  this  view,  the  imagination 
includes  phases  of  sense -perception,  representation,  memory,  and 
even  phantasy.  The  author  has  preferred  to  use  the  term  imagina- 
tion to  designate  a  distinct  mental  act  or  process  and  its  corre- 
sponding jiowcr. 


56  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

produced  by  memory  represents  a  tree  actually  seen  ; 
the  image  formed  by  the  imagination  represents  no 
actual  tree.  The  imagination  is  the  modifier,  recom- 
biner,  and  creator  of  psychical  images. 

The  imagination  has  three  somewhat  distinct  phases 
of  activity  and  development,  which  may  be  designated 
as  the  Modifying,  the  Constructive,  and  the  Creative. 

1.  The  modifying  phase  includes  (i)  the  imagining 
of  one   known   thing  to   be   another  known  thing;   as 

Modifyins  ^hc  concciviug  of  a  broomstick  to  be  a 
Phase.  horse,  a  row  of  blocks  a  train  of  cars,  a 
doll,  a  live  baby,  etc.  ;  and  (2)  the  imagining  of  a 
known  object,  material  or  spiritual,  to  be  enlarged  or 
diminished  in  size  or  intensity,  or  otherwise  changed 
in  some  attrioute  or  quality;  as  the  conceiving  of  a 
mouse  to  be  as  large  as  a  dog,  or  a  dog  as  small  as 
a  mouse,  snow  to  be  red,  ice  to  be  hot,  etc.  Both 
of  these  forms  of  modifying  the  products  of  psychical 
experience  appear  very  early  in  the  child's  life. 

2.  The  constructive  phase  of  the  imagination  in- 
cludes the  combining  of  psychical  elements,  suggested 
Constructive    by    another    mind,    into    new    wholes,    also 

Phase.  suggested  ;  as  the  imaging  of  a  tree,  an 
animal,  or  a  house  from  a  description,  pictorial  or 
verbal.  The  elements  thus  combined  or  synthesized 
are  furnished  by  the  representative  power  under  the 
guidance  of  another  mind,  and  the  resulting  whole  is 
not  an  original  creation.  I  may,  for  example,  show 
another  person  the  picture  of  a  family,  and  add  a 
verbal  description  of  the  parents  and  the  children, 
their  feelings  towards  each  other,  their  actions,  etc., 
and,  as  a  result  of  constructive  activity,  the  person 
observing  and   hearing  will   have  a  mental    picture  of 


THE  INTELLECT.  57 

the  family  more  or  less  similar  to  the  one  in  my  own 
mind.  This  is  eminently  the  school  phase  of  the  im- 
agination, and  is  exercised  in  teaching  reading,  geog- 
raphy, etc. 

3.  In  its  creative  phase  the  imagination  conceives 
or  constructs  new  wholes  from  materials  or  elements 
furnished  by  representation,  the  whole  thus  creative 
constructed  being  a  new  creation  ;  as  the  Phase, 
imaging  of  an  unseen  landscape,  a  dramatic  scene  that 
represents  no  real  occurrence,  etc.  It  is  the  creative 
imagination  that  furnishes  the  artist,  the  inventor,  and 
the  discoverer  with  their  ideals,  and  that  characterizes 
the  poet,  the  dramatist,  and  the  novelist. 

In  all  these  forms  of  activity,  the  imagination  uses 
the  materials  or  elements  furnished  by  representation 
from  experience.  It  creates  no  new  ele-  Materials 
ment.  The  painter  can  not  imagine  a  new  used, 
color,  nor  can  the  dramatist  imagine  a  new  emotion, 
affection,  or  desire.  But  the  imagination  can  modify 
the  products  of  experience.  The  painter  can  change 
a  color  to  a  hue  or  tint  which  he  has  not  seen,  and 
the  poet  can  imagine  a  love  more  intense  and  de- 
voted than  he  has  ever  felt,  and  a  passion  more  con- 
suming than  has  ever  burned  in  his  bosom.  Shakes- 
peare may  have  never  experienced  the  intensity  of 
Othello's  jealousy,  or  the  horror  of  Macbeth's  re- 
morse. 

It   may  be   added   that   the   imagination    acts   under 
the  control  and  guidance  of  the  other  pow-        Further 
ers  of  the  intellect  and  of  the  will,  and  in     Conditions, 
the  most  active  conditions  of  the  soul.      All  its  crea- 


58  ELEMENTS   OF  PEDAGOGY. 

tions  are  in  harmony  with  the  laws  and  relations  of 
space,  the  conditions  of  time,  and  the  other  neces- 
sary relations  of  real  beings  and  phenomena. 

Phantasy. 

The  tendency  of  the  soul  to  repeat  its  former  acts 
and  states  manifests  itself  in  an  interesting  form  of 
representation,  called  phantasy.  It  is  characterized 
by  the  fact  that  the  reproductive  act  is  spontaneous 
and  involuntary,  and  especially  by  the  fact  that  past 
images,  whether  the  products  of  sense  or  imagination, 
are  reproduced  in  capricious  and  often  inexplicable 
combinations.  As  in  simple  representation  (p.  51), 
the  reproduced  images  are  not  recognized  as  the  prod- 
ucts of  past  experience,  and,  in  some  cases,  the  result- 
ing phantasms  seem  present  realities. 

This  spontaneous  and  capricious  activity  of  the 
representative  power  occurs  when  the  other  mental 
Conditions  powcrs  aiid  the  will  are  partially  or  wholly 
of  Phantasy,  passivc,  as  in  reverie,  dreaming,  and  vari- 
ous forms  of  delirium  and  insanity.  In  day-dreams  or 
reverie,  the  simplest  form  of  phantasy,  the  other  pow- 
ers of  the  soul  are  sufficiently  passive  to  permit  the 
imaging  power  to  act  under  the  law  of  association 
without  interrupUon,  and  past  images,  suggested  by 
some  obtrusive  feeling,  may  throng  the  mind.  In 
certain  wakeful  states,  called  distraction,  unbidden 
phantasms  may  follow  each  other  so  rapidly  as  to 
prevent  memory,  thought,  or  other  intellectual  acts. 

In  some  phases  of  phantasy,-  recognition  or  memory 
is  more  or  less  united  with  reproduction.  An  inter- 
esting   example    of  phantasy    in    reverie,    with    partial 


THE  INTELLECT.  59 

recognition,    is    given    in    Galton's    "Inquiry    into   the 
Human  Faculty"  (p.    173).      Mr.   Galton  says: 

"I  once  passed  into  a  shop  in  London  to  order  a  Dutch  cheese, 
and  the  proprietor  (a  bullet -headed  man  whom  I  had  never  seen 
before)  rolled  a  cheese  on  the  marble  slab  of  his  counter,  asking 
if  that  would  do.  I  answered  'Yes,'  and  left  the  shop,  and  thought 
no  more  of  the  incident.  The  following  evening,  on  closing  my 
eyes,  I  saw  a  head,  detached  from  the  body,  rolling  about  slightly 
on  a  white  surface.  I  recognized  the  face  but  could  not  remember 
where  I  had  seen  it,  and  it  M'as  only  after  thinking  about  it  for 
some  time,  that  I  recognized  it  as  the  head  of  the  cheese- monger 
who  sold   me  the  cheese  on   the  previous  day." 

It  is  believed  that  this  spontaneous  activity  of  the 
imaging  power  is  usually  occasioned  by  some  nervous 
or  sensorial  excitement  which  awakens  sen-  howoc- 
sations  previously  associated  with  the  ob-  casioned. 
jects  represented.  Mahan  gives  the  illustration  of  a 
sick  person  with  a  bottle  of  hot  water  at  his  feet, 
who  dreamed  that  he  was  walking  upon  the  crater  of 
yEtna.  He  once  had  felt  similar  burning  sensations 
when  walking  upon  the  crater  of  Vesuvius,  and  he 
had  just  been  reading  of  a  traveler's  experience  upon 
the  crater  of  ^tna  (Mental  Philosophy,  p.  100).  The 
necessary  sensorial  action  may  be  caused  by  indiges- 
tion, cerebral  excitement,  or  other  derangement  of 
the  nervous  organism.  All  that  is  required  is  senso- 
rial excitement  awakening  sensations  which,  in  turn, 
become  the  excitants  of  the  reproductive  power  in 
associated  activities. 

The  mind  in   phantasy  seems  also  endowed  with    a 
creative  energy  that  goes   beyond   representation,  and 
this   may  be   true  ;    but   many  of   the  wild       creative 
and   grotesque   phantasms   that   seem   crea-      Phantasy, 
tions  are  only  strange  combinations  of  separated    im- 


60  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDA  G 0 G  Y. 

ages  occasioned  by  abnormal  sensorial  activity.  The 
thought  powers  are  also  sometimes  unusually  active 
in  sleep.  We  have  illustrations  in  the  solution  of 
problems  in  sleep  that  baffle  the  mind  when  awake, 
and  in  the  command  of  a  felicity  of  thought  and 
expression  that  excels  all  wakeful  efforts  in  this  di- 
rection. This  may  be  due  to  an  unusually  excited 
condition  of  the  intellect,  and  the  concentration  of 
its  thought  powers  on  the  one  activity  without  the 
distractions  of  sense  or  memory. 

There  is  a  marked  distinction  between  the  products 
of  phantasy  proper,  and  those  hallucinations  or  spec- 
Haiiuci-  tral  illusions  that  characterize  the  deliriums 
nations.  q{  ^-^^  iusanc  victims  of  alcohol,  opium, 
and  other  poisonous  drugs,  and  also  of  other  maladies 
that  destroy  the  normal  action  of  the  senses  and  the 
brain.  In  phantasy,  the  senses  are  either  not  active 
or  receive  little  attention,  but  in  hallucinations  and 
apparitions  the  senses  are  active  and  cooperative,  and 
often  their  abnormal  activities  occasion  the  illusion. 
The  malady  affects  the  special  sense-organs,  and  pro- 
duces sensations  which  mislead  the  perceptive  power. 
The  anticipations  of  the  mind  also  exert  a  remarkable 
influence  upon  sensorial  action. 

Man's  Condition  with  only  Presentative  and 
Representative  Powers. 

It  may  be  both  interesting  and  suggestive  to  ask 
here  what  man's  intellectual  condition  would  be  were 
he  endowed  only  with  presentative  power,  including 
consciousness,  sense-perception,  and  intuition,  and 
representative  power,  including  memory,  imagination, 


THE  INTELLECT.  6l 

and  phantasy.  Since  all  objects  known  by  presenta- 
tive  activity  are  individual,  all  represented  objects 
would  necessarily  be  individual,  and  hence  all  of  viaii s 
knozvlcdge  would  relate  to  individual  objects,  and  zvould 
be  limited  to  his  individual  experience.  Memory  would 
be  busy  in  representing  and  reknowing  the  individual 
objects  of  sense  and  consciousness,  and  in  recalling 
the  scanty  pictures  of  the  sense-fettered  imagination, 
and  the  unrecognized  images  of  phantasy,  its  fleeting 
shadows  of  forgotten  experiences,  would  unbidden 
throng  the  vacant  mind.  Human  language  would  be 
almost  wholly  limited  to  the  few  vocal  and  visual 
signs  which  instinct  marvelously  interprets.  The  sen- 
tence, if  not  the  word,  would  be  impossible.  Man's 
knowledge  would  be  original,  but  in  fragments. 

The  Thought  Power. 

The  human  soul  is  further  endowed  with  the  power 
to  form  general  concepts  and  ideas,  and  to  apply 
them  in  a  great  variety  of  intellectual  acts  and  proc- 
esses. It  compares  known  objects  and  discerns  their 
likenesses  and  their  differences.  It  forms  general  con- 
cepts to  represent  like  objects,  and  then  under  these 
concepts  arranges  them  in  classes.  It  discerns  the 
qualities  and  relations  of  objects,  material  and  spirit- 
ual, and  affirms  these  qualities  and  relations  as  facts. 
It  .sees  in  like  particular  facts  the  general  fact  that 
includes  them.  It  passes  from  general  facts  to  prin- 
ciples, and  from  these  to  laws.  It  discovers  causes 
from  effects,  and  infers  effects  from  causes.  It  fore- 
casts what  will  occur  by  rightly  interpreting  what  has 
occurred.      It  explains  events  by  referring  them  to  the 


62  E  L  EMENTS  OE  FED  A  GOGY. 

discovered  laws  of  nature  or  of  necessity.  It  sees  in 
the  phenomena  of  spirit  the  attributes  and  laws  of 
spirit,  and  reads  in  the  adaptations  of  created  things 
the  designs  of  the  Creator. 

These  various  intellectual  acts  are  called  thinking; 
and  the  resulting  products,  thoughts.  The  power  to 
Thinking  think  is  called  the  thought  power,  or, 
and  Thought,  more  briefly,  Thought/-^^  Thought  may  be 
defined  as  the  poivcr  of  the  soul  to  form  and  rationally 
apply  general  conceptions.  General  conceptions,  as  here 
used,  include  not  only  general  concepts  (see  below), 
but  inductions  and  all  other  mental  products  formed 
by  generalization. 

Conception. 

The  simplest  act  of  thinking  is  the  forming  of  the 
general   concept,    or   notion,   which   represents   a   class 

General       o^  objects ;  and  the  simplest  of  these  ^qw- 

Concepts.  gj-^^j  conccpts  are  those  which  represent 
classes  of  material  objects;  as,  tree,  fence,  peach,  bird, 
etc.  These  class  concepts  represent  what  is  common 
or  general  to  all  the  objects  of  the  class,  and  hence 
they  are  called  general  concepts. 

The  process  of  forming  a   general    concept  includes 

comparison  and   discrimination,     analysis,     abstraction. 

Acts  synthesis,    and    generalization.      This    may 

involved.       j^g  sliown  by  an  analysis  of  the  process  of 


*This  power  is  designated  by  various  appellations,  as  the  muter- 
standing,  the  intelligence,  the  trason,  the  rational  faculty,  the  rcjlcct- 
ive  faculty,  the  elaiwative  faculty,  etc.  The  author  prefers  the  ap- 
pellation Thought  Power,  or  Thought,  used  by  Dr.  Noah  Porter. 
The  objection  that  the  term  thought  is  used  to  designate  the  power, 
the  act,  and  the  product,  is  not  serious,  since  the  word  is  used  in 
literature  in   these  three  senses. 


THE  INTELLECT.  63 

forming  the  general  concept  tree.  The  mind  perceives 
a  tree,  forming  an  image  of  it,  or  sense-concept;  it 
sees  another  tree,  forming  an  image  of  it,  and  it  sees 
other  trees,  forming  images  of  them.  At  some  point 
in  the  forming  of  these  individual  images,  the  mind 
cojupares  the  objects  and  sees  that  they  are  like  or 
different.  It  analyses  the  images,  noting  their  com- 
mon elements,  and  abstracts  each,  that  is,  thinks  of 
each  apart  from  the  other  elements.  It  then  syntJie- 
sizes  these  common  elements  into  a  new  whole  or 
concept  and  generalizes  it,  that  is,  thinks  it  as  the 
general  representative  of  all  the  objects  considered. 

It  is  not  meant  that  these  several  acts  or  steps  nec- 
essarily occur  in  the  exact  order  indicated,  nor  that 
they  are  clearly  separable  in  consciousness.  It  is  also 
noted  that  since  individual  sense- concepts  contain  in- 
tuitions and  thought  elements,  as  well  as  percepts  (p. 
47),  the  general  concept  also  contains  these  elements. 

Since  all  of  these  several  acts  assist  in  the  forming 
of  the  general  concept,  the  entire  process  is  called 
S-e7icraHzation ;   and,    to   distinguish  it  from     ,      ,,    . 

^  ^  Appellation. 

other     thought     generalizations     (hereafter 
considered),    it   is    called    Coiiceptive   Gcncralizatiou,    or, 
more  briefly.    Conception.     Conception   is   the    primary 
act  of  thinking. 

Percepts  may  be  generalized,  as  well  as  concepts,  and 
by  a  similar  process.  A  percept  may  be  abstracted 
from  individual  concepts,  or  from  the  gen-  General 
eral  concept  that  represents  such  concepts,  ideas, 
and  it  is  then  ideated  (p.  46),  and  becomes  an  abstract 
idea.  If  this  abstract  idea  be  thought  of  as  repre- 
senting a   common   attribute   of  several    objects,    it   is 


64  ELEMEX-J'S  OF  rF.DAGOGY. 

generalized  and  becomes  a  general  abstract  idea.  All 
our  ideas  of  psychical  phenomena  thus  pass  from  the 
particular  to  the  general ;  and,  as  a  result,  we  have 
such  general  ideas  as  love,  fear,  hope,  faith,  purpose, 
choice,  etc. 

The    distinction    between    a   general    concept   and    a 

general  idea,  as  used  in  this  analysis,  is  that  the  for- 

mer  is  conipoiind  and  the  latter  simple.     The 

General  -'  ^ 

Concepts  and    general  concept  is  composed  of  several  ele- 


Ideas. 


ments,  and  is  the  product  of  a  synthetic 
act;  the  general  idea  consists  of  but  one  element, 
the  product  of  a  single  act,  and  hence  there  is  no 
synthesis  in  its  generalization.* 

It  will  be  observed  that  general  concepts  and  gen- 
eral ideas  are  not  the  products  of  direct  perception  or 
knowing,  as  presentative  products  are,  but  they  are 
formed  from  particular  concepts  and  ideas  by  general- 
izing their  common  elements.  The  general  is  reached 
through  the  particular  by  thinking. 

All  general  concepts  are  in  reality  abstract,  but  in 
their  applications   they  may  be   considered   as  conerete 

Concrete  or  abstmct.  Whcu  a  concept  is  applied  to 
and  Abstract.  ^  class  of  material  objects,  it  is  concrete  ; 
when  it  represents  a  purely  ideal  or  thought  object, 
it  is  abstract.  Man  is  concrete  ;  vianJiood  is  abstract. 
Human  being  is  concrete;  Jinmanity  is  abstract.  No 
general  concept  can  be  imaged,  but  every  concrete 
general    concept    may   be    thought    into    an    individual 


■•■■General  ideas,  as  here  defined,  are  also  called  siinph'  concepts: 
but  it  is  believed  to  be  better  to  apply  the  term  general  concept  to 
the  compound  product,  and  general  idea  to  the  simple,  though  this 
may  seem  a  somewhat   arbitrary  distinction. 


THE  INTELLECT.  65 

concept,  and  thus  imaged,  the  imaged  concept  repre- 
senting an  individual  object.* 

The  individual  objects  which  a  general  concept 
represents,  may  be  arranged  under  it  as  a  group  or 
class.  This  process  is  called  classification.  ciassifica- 
Objects  may  also  be  arranged  into  classes  *'°"-  - 
and  sub -classes,  the  highest  class  representing  the 
genus,  and  the  sub-classes  species.  This  process  is 
called  gcnerification. 

Concepts  and  ideas,  general  and  particular,  are  rep- 
resented by  words  which  assist  the  mind  in  recalling 
and  applying  them.  To  this  end,  words  words  as 
are  invented  and  associated  with  concepts  signs, 
and  ideas  as  their  signs,  and,  when  so  associated,  the 
word  occasions  the  recall  of  the  mental  product  which 
it  represents.  When  a  word  is  not  associated  with  a 
concept  or  idea  as  its  sign,  the  word  has  no  meaning 
or  import.  It  is  merely  a  sensuous  object— a  form  or 
a  sound. 

The  essential  condition  in  the  use  of  words  as  means 
of  communication  between  different  minds,  is  that  the 
words  used  by  one  mind  as  the  signs  of  concepts  not 
concepts  or  ideas  be  associated  with  the  Transferred. 
same  concepts  or  ideas  in  the  mind  receiving  them. 
A  word  can  not  convey  or  transfer  a  concept  or  idea 


'-■■The  fact  that  the   general   concept   can    not   be  imaged   has   led 

some  to  doul)t  its  reality,  the  doubt  being  based  on  the  assumption 

that  nothing  is  real   that  can  not  be  imaged  ;   but  this  very  doubt  can 

not  be  imaged !    The    piienomena    of   consciousness   that  can   not   be 

imaged,  are  as  real  and  certain  as  tliosc  that  can  be.     The  highest 

and  most  important  verities  of  which  man  lias  knowledge,   can  not 

be  pictured  to  the  mind's  eye. 
W.  P.-6. 


66  ELEMEXTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

from  one  mind  to  another.  Every  concept  or  idea  is 
formed  in  the  mind  that  possesses  it  by  the  iimid's  cnvii 
action.  It  is  not  received ;  it  is  produced.  A  word 
can  only  occasion  the  mind's  action  ;  and  that  it  may 
occasion  the  recalhng  of  a  concept  or  idea,  it  must  be 
associated  with  such  concept  or  idea. 

These  facts  are  of  great  importance  in  education, 
and  they  will  be  frequently  recognized  in  the  principles 
and  methods  of  teaching  presented  in  the  following 
pages.  The  supposition  that  ideas  can  be  transferred 
by  words  from  one  mind  to  another,  as  water  can  be 
poured  from  one  vessel  into  another,  is  the  source  of 
much  error  in  teaching. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  words  not  only  repre- 
sent general  concepts  and  ideas,  but  also  individual 
T.r    J  o-         concepts.      The  so-called  proper  nouns  are 

>Vords  Signs  ^  i        r 

of  Individual  namcs  of  particular  or  individual  objects  — 
^^^'^^'  largely  the  names  of  persons,  places,  do- 
mestic animals,  and  other  objects,  to  which  man  needs 
to  refer  in  common  speech.  Few,  if  any,  words  rep- 
resent paTtiadar  ideas.  The  words  that  represent  the 
acts  and  states  of  the  soul,  the  actions  of  animals  and 
plants,  and  the  attributes,  qualities,  and  relations  of 
objects,  are  general.  An  act  or  event  is  represented 
as  particular  by  connecting  with  the  general  word, 
Avhich  expresses  it,  a  proper  noun  or  a  phrase  con- 
taining a  proper  noun,  and  then  the  expression  rep- 
resents a  concept.  We  thus  speak  of  Adam's  fall, 
Abraham's  faith,  Cataline's  defiance,  the  fall  of  Baby- 
lon, the  Harrison  campaign,  etc.  It  is  obvious  that 
there  would  be  little,  if  any,  use  for  proper  nouns  if 
there  were  no  words  expressing  general  concepts  and 
ideas  to  use  with  them. 


THE  IXTELLECT.  6/ 

Judgment. 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  forming  of  the  general 
concept  involves  the  act  of  comparison.  The  mind 
perceives  successively  that  several  individual  oranges 
are  yellow,  and  by  comparison  it  discerns  that  all  of 
the  oranges  are  yellow.  This  common  quality  or 
likeness  may  be  discerned  in  connection  with  the  or- 
anges, and  the  result  may  be  expressed  by  the  phrase, 
"Yellow  oranges."  But  the  mind  may  not  only  dis- 
cern the  common  quality  or  likeness  of  the  several 
oranges  by  comparison,  but  it  may  think,  or  mentally 
affirm,  this  quality  or  likeness  of  the  compared  or- 
anges, the  result  being  expressed  by  the  sentence, 
"These  oranges  are  yellow." 

The  discerning  of  a  common  likeness  of  several  ob- 
jects by  comparison  \?>  judgtno^,  and  the  resulting  men- 
tal product  is  a  Judgment.      When  the  like-        g.^  ^^ 
ness  of  the  compared  objects  is  discerned     and  Formal 
in  connection  with  the  objects,  as  "yellow  ^'"^' 

oranges,"  the  act  is  called  simple  or  priniaiy  judging. 
When  the  discerned  likeness  of  compared  objects  is 
formally  thought  or  affirmed  of  them,  as  "These  or- 
anges are  yellow,"  the  act  is  called  y^r;//^/ judging. 
The  affirmance  of  an  attribute  of  an  individual  object, 
as  "This  orange  is  yellow, "is  also  formal  judging. 

But   the   comparing   of  different   objects   to    discern 
their   likenesses   also    involves   the    discerning  of  their 
differences,  or  discrimination,  otherwise  the      Discrimi- 
objects    compared    would    be    perceived    as        nation. 
one  and  the  same  object.      It  follows  that  judging  in- 
volves discrimination,     (p.    41). 


68  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

Judgment  as  a  capacity  may  be  defined  as  tJic  pozver 
of  the  soul  to  discern  and  affirm  the  likenesses  and  dif- 
ferences of  objects  of  knoivledge.  It  may  also  be  defined 
as  the  immediate  discerning  of  an  attribute  or  relation 
as  common  to  all  known  objects  compared. 

The  term  judgment  is  also  applied  to  the  product 
or  result  of  an  act  of  judging.  The  phrases,  "yel- 
low oranges,"  "red  apples,"  and  "crooked 

Judgments.  ° 

lines"  express  simple  judgments ;  and  the 
sentences,  "These  oranges  are  yellow,"  "These  ap- 
ples are  red,"  and  "These  lines  are  crooked,"  express 
formal  judgments.* 

Formal  judgments  may  be  classified  as  particular 
and  general.  When  an  attribute  is  affirmed  or  denied 
Particular  of  ouc  or  scvcral  particular  objects,  the  re- 
and  General,  suiting  judgments  are  particular  ;  and  when 
an  attribute  is  affirmed  or  denied  of  all  known  objects 
of  a  class,  the  judgment  is  general.  "This  orange  is 
yellow"  and  "These  oranges  are  yellow"  are  partic- 
ular judgments;  "Oranges  are  yellow"  is  a  general 
judgment.  Every  general  judgment  based  immedi- 
ately on  a  discerned  likeness  or  difference  is  limited 
to  the  kno7vn  objects  of  a  class,  and  hence  is  not 
universal.  The  limited  general  judgment,  "Swans  are 
white,"  is  equivalent  to  "All  known  swans  are  white." 

A  formal  judgment  expressed  in  words  is  a  proposi- 
tion.     Every    proposition    contains    two    terms,   called 
subject   and   predicate.      When    one   of  the 

Proposition.  ■'  ' 

terms  of  a  proposition  is  an  individual  con- 

■••■  Simple  or  primary  judgments  are  also  called  vutttral  and  psy- 
choloi^n'cal,  and  formal  judgments  are  called  artificial,  secondary,  toi^ical, 
and  predicative. 


THE  INTELLECr.  6g 

cept,  the  proposition  is  particular.  ' '  Moses  was  a 
lawgiver"  is  a  particular  proposition.  When  the  terms 
of  a  proposition  are  both  general  concepts,  or  a  gen- 
eral concept  and  an  idea,  the  proposition  is  general. 
"Trees  have  roots"  is  a  general  proposition. 

A  true  judgment  is  a  fact.  Facts,  like  judgments, 
are  classified  as  particular  and  general.  The  sen- 
tences, "The  birds  flew  away,"  "The  child 

'  -^  '  ^  Facts. 

is  blind,"  "These  flowers  are  withered," 
express  particular  facts.  The  sentences,  "Trees  have 
roots,"  "Roses  are  fragrant,"  express  general  facts. 
It  should  be  added  that  all  general  facts  are  not  facts 
of  judgment,  in  the  sense  in  which  judgment  is  here 
used.  There  are  also  facts  of  inference  or  reason,  the 
same  being  not  only  general,  but  universal  (p.  70). 
Universal  truths  are  sometimes  called  facts  of  mediate 
judgment. 

It  is  seen  from  the  above  analysis  that  the  judgment 
is  the  source  of  the  sentence  in  language.  Conception 
gives  concepts,   which   are   represented   by  The 

words.      The    formal    judgment    compares      sentence, 
concepts,    or   concepts   and    ideas,    or   ideas ;    and    the 
discerned  relation  is  expressed  by  the  sentence. 

The  Reason. 

Our  analysis  now  reaches  the  last  and  the  highest 
power  of  the .  human  intellect ;  viz,  the  power  which 
discerns  in  what  is  known  of  several  objects  of  a  class 
what  is  true  of  all  objects  of  this  class,  known  and 
unknown,  thus  passing  from  the  facts  of  observation 
and  judgment    to    general    facts    more   comprehensive 


70  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

and  universal ;  the  power  which  also  discerns  in  a 
general  fact  the  validity  of  all  included  facts,  thus 
descending  from  a  knowledge  of  general  and  universal 

Reason        truths   to   a   knowledge  of  particular  facts. 

Defined.  ^\]\s  marvelous  power  is  called  the  Reason. 
It  may  be  defined  as  t/u-  poivcr  of  the  soul  that  passes 
from  particular  facts  as  reasons  to  a  general  fact,  or 
from  a  general  fact  to  the  included  particular  facts. 

As  above  indicated,  there  are  two  kinds  or  processes 

of  reasoning;  to  wit,   (i)  the  reasoning  from  particular 

Kinds  of      facts    to    a    general    fact,    called    induction, 

Reasoning.     ^,-jj  (^o)   thc  rcasouiug  from  a  general   fact 

to  particular  facts,    called  deduction. 

Induction. 

It  has  been  shown  that  a  general  judgment  is  really 
limited  to  known  objects,  and  hence  is  not  a  universal 
truth.  V)W\.  the  mind  is  endowed  with  the  power  and 
tendency  to  pass  from  the  facts  of  observation  and 
judgment,  limited  to  known  objects,  to  those  universal 
facts  which  include  not  only  known  objects,  but  related 
unknown  objects,  and  this  is  done  when  the  mind  sees 
in  the  known  and  limited  a  ground  or  reason  for  in- 
ferring the  universal.  The  act  of  discerning  in  the 
known  and  limited  a  reason  and  so  inferring  the  uni- 
versal, is  called  induction,  and  the  same  term  is  applied 
to  the  act  or  process  and  the  result. 

I'hc  distinction  between  immediate  judgment  and 
induction  may  be  made  clear  by  a  single  example. 
I  have  seen  several  elephants,  and  have  observed  that 
each  one  has  a  proboscis  or  trunk.  I  generalize  these 
particular  observations  into  the  fact,  all  these  elephants 


THE  INTELLECT.  7 1 

have  ininks.  This  is  an  immediate  judgment,  and  in- 
cludes only  known  elephants.  If  I  now  enlarge  this 
judgment  by  the  inference  that  what  I  have  judging  and 
observed  to  be  true  of  the  known  elephants  induction, 
must  be  true  of  all  elephants,  I  reach  the  general  fact, 
all  elephants  have  trunks.  This  is  an  induction,  and  it 
includes  all  elephants,  known  and  unknown.  It  is 
thus  seen  that  the  general  judgment  is  limited;  the 
induction,    universal. 

In  judging,  the  mind  immediately  discerns  an  attri- 
bute or  relation  as  common  to  all  known  objects  com- 
pared, but  what  is  the  ground  and  nature  Ground  of 
of  the  process  called  induction?  How  does  induction. 
the  mind  pass  with  confident  step  from  what  is  true  of 
known  objects  to  the  inference  that  the  same  is  true 
of  all  objects  of  the  class,  known  and  unknov/n  ?  This 
question  can  be  best  answered  by  a  few  illustrations. 

Let  us  begin  with  the  one  already  used.  I  have 
seen,  say  ten,  elephants,  and  have  observed  that  each 
has  a  trunk,  and,  w^ith  confidence,  I  make    ,,, 

'  niustrations. 

the  induction,  all  elephants  have  tj^?iiiks. 
Why?  I  have  seen,  say  ten,  deer,  and  have  observed 
that  each  one  has  antlers  or  horns,  but  I  hesitate  to 
make  the  induction,  all  deer  have  horns.  Why?  Why 
do  I  make  the  induction  confidently  in  the  first  case, 
and  not  in  the  second? 

In  the  case  of  the  elephants,  1  observe  that  each 
animal  has  long  legs  and  a  very  short  neck,  and  in 
these  and  other  observed  attributes  I  see  that  the 
elephant's  trunk  is  a  necessary  means  for  its  obtaining 
food  and  drink.  I  thus  discern  in  the  nature  of  the 
elephant    a    sufficient    reason    for    tlie    induction    that 


72  ELEMENTS  OE  PEDAGOGY. 

all  elephants  have  trunks.  In  the  case  of  the  deer, 
I  do  not  observe  that  the  horns  are  necessary  means 
to  obtain  either  food  or  drink,  and,  since  the  deer  is 
one  of  the  fleetest  of  animals,  I  do  not  see  the  ne- 
cessity of  its  horns  as  a  means  of  defense.  Hence  I 
do  not  discern  in  the  fact  that  all  the  ten  known  deer 
have  horns,  or  in  any  other  observed  facts,  a  sufficient 
reason  for  the  induction  that  all  deer  have  horns.  My 
hesitancy  to  make  such  an  inference  may  be  strength- 
ened by  the  observed  fact  that  all  the  deer  which  I 
have  seen  are  male,  not  a  female  deer  being  included. 

Let  us  take  one  more  illustration.  I  am  shown 
several  triangles  drawn  on  paper,  and  I  observe  that 
Another  cacli  triauglc  has  three  sides.  I,  however, 
uiustration.  hcsitatc  to  make  the  induction  that  all 
triangles  have  three  sides  until  I  see  that  what  is  true 
in  this  respect  of  the  triangles  observed  must  be  true 
of  any  triangle,  that  the  fact  of  three  angles  neces- 
sitates the  fact  of  three  sides.  When  I  discern  this 
necessary  relation  between  the  number  of  angles  and 
the  number  of  sides  of  a  triangle,  I  make  the  certain 
induction  that  all  triangles  have  three  sides. 

It  is  thus  seen  that  the  ground  on  which  the  mind 

certainly  infers  that  what  is  true  of  known  objects  is 

also   true   of  unknown   like   objects,   is  the 

The  Reason.  ■' 

discernment  of  a  cause  or  reason  for  what 
is  true  of  the  known.  The  fact  that  a  score  or  more 
of  known  elephants,  without  exception,  have  trunks, 
would  be  no  valid  ground  for  the  induction  that  all 
elephants  have  trunks,  if  the  mind  did  not  discern  the 
necessary  adaptation  of  the  elephant's  trunk  to  its 
nature  and  existence. 


THE  INTELLECT.  73 

The  validity  of  an  induction  depends  on  the  validity 
of  tJic  reason  on  whieh  it  is  made.  When  the  discerned 
reason  of  the  inference  is  a  necessity  of  validity  of 
nature  or  thought,  an  induction  is  certain  induction, 
knowledge.  The  claim  that  we  do  not  know  the  unob- 
served facts  included  in  a  certain  induction,  is  playing 
with  the  word  know.  We  know  any  thing  when  we 
are  certain  that  it  is  (p.  35),  and  the  knowledge  gained 
by  induction  may  be  even  more  certain  than  some 
knowledge  gained  by  observation. 

It  is  also  to  be  observed  that  while  all  immediate 
judgments,  simple  or  formal,  are  limited  by  obser- 
vation and  experience,  the  inductions  of  bslsIs  of 
reason  transcend  both  observation  and  ex-  induction, 
perience  (as  usually  understood),  and  rest  in  those 
necessary  truths  which  the  mind  intuitively  appre- 
hends, including  the  necessary  relations  of  time,  space, 
substance  and  attribute,  cause  and  effect,  means  and 
end,  adaptation,  design,  etc.  It  is  thus  seen  that  in 
the  final  analysis,  the  validity  of  the  true  inductions 
of  reason  depends  on  the  certainty  of  the  mind's  direct 
apprehension  of  the  necessary  relations  of  the  objects 
of  knowledge. 

In  inductive  reasoning,  the  mind  may  proceed  on 
the  assumption  that  what  is  true  of  known  objects 
must    be    true    of  all    objects    like    them  — 

.  Analogy, 

that  an  observed  similarity  of  known  ob- 
jects is  a  universal  attribute  of  all  like  objects.  This 
is  called  reasoning  from  analogy,  and  it  is  the  source 
of  much  error.  A  person  who  has  seen  only  white 
sheep,  infers  that  all  sheep  are  white.  A  traveler  who 
has  personally  met  only  dishonest  Arabs  in  a  journey, 

W.  P.-7. 


74  RLE  MEN  TS  OE  FED  A  GOGY. 

infers  that  all  Arabs  arc  dishonest.  These  and  similar 
inferences  are  not  inductions  proper,  since  the  mind 
does  not  discern  in  the  observed  facts  a  reason  that 
necessitates  or  justifies  the  inference.  The  only  valid 
reason  for  such  an  induction  is  the  discerned  fact  that 
the  observed  similarity  is  an  essential  attribute  of  the 
known  objects.  When  this  reason  is  not  clearly  dis- 
Probabie  ccmcd,  the  induction  is  at  best  only  a 
Inference,  probttblc  iiifcrcncc.  It  somctimcs  happens 
that  the  indications  interpreted  are  only  incidental 
concomitants,  and  then  the  induction  is  not  even  a 
probable  truth. 

A  serious  error  in   reasoning   often  arises   from   the 

fact  that  when  two  events  are  coincident  or  occur  in 

succession,  the  one  is  taken  to  be  a  cause 

Coincidences. 

and  the  other  an  effect.  A  farmer,  for 
example,  sows  his  seed  for  several  years  in  a  certain 
phase  of  the  moon,  and  has  good  crops,  and,  suppos- 
ing that  the  moon  has  been  the  cause  and  the  good 
crops  the  effect,  he  infers  that  this  phase  of  the  moon 
is  the  only  proper  time  for  sowing  such  seed. 

The  inductions  of  common  life  are  often  based  on 
incidental  and  superficial  indications,  and  the  tendency 

Common  to  hasty  inferences  leads  to  much  error  in 
Inductions,  belief  and  conduct.  This  tendency  is  often 
aggravated  by  self-interest  and  prejudice.  It  is  an 
important  function  of  school  education  to  correct  this 
tendency  by  training  the  mind  increasingly  in  the  art 
of  inductive  reasoning. 

It  is  believed  that  most  of  the  apparent  inductions 
of  young  children  are  only  general  judgments  broadly 
stated,    and    that    most    of    their    inductions    are    the 


THE  IXTELLECT.  75 

uncertain  inferences  of  analogy.  It  remains,  however, 
true  that  children  make  real  inductions  at  an  early- 
age,  much  earlier  than  certain  theorists  suppose  (p. 
91}. 

Deduction. 

Deductive  reasoning  is  the  inverse  of  induction. 
When  we  reason  from  the  fact  that  every  known  wood 
is  combustible  to  the  general  fact  that  all  wood  is 
combustible,  we  are  reasoning  by  induction ;  but  when 
we  reason  from  the  general  fact  that  all  wood  is 
combustible  to  the  fact  that  a  particular  wood,  as 
lignum-vitffi,  is  combustible,  we  are  reasoning  by 
deduction. 

The  following  examples  clearly  illustrate  deductive 
reasoning : 

All  magnets  attract  iron ;  this  bar  of  steel  is  a 
magnet;  hence  it  will  attract  this  iron  nail. 

All  iron  is  attracted  by  a  magnet ;  this  piece  of 
metal  is  not  attracted  by  a  magnet;  therefore  it  is 
not  iron. 

All  pure  alcohol  will  burn ;  this  liquid  will  not 
burn ;  hence  it  is  not  pure  alcohol. 

All  acid  solutions  change  litmus-paper  red;  this 
solution  does  not  change  this  litmus-paper  red;  hence 
it  is  not  an  acid  solution. 

All  men  are  mortal ;  Moses  was  a  man  ;  therefore 
Moses  was  mortal. 

It  will  be  observed  that  each  of  the  above  examples 
of   deductive    reasoning    consists    of  three  The 

propositions;  to  wit,   a  general  proposition     Syiiogism. 
and  two  particular  propositions,  one  being  the  inference 


76  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

or  conclusion.     This    form    of  deductive   reasoning  is 
called  the  Syllogism. 

A  syllogism  consists  of  three  propositions.  The 
first  or  general  proposition  is  called  the  Major  Premise ; 
Premises  and  thc  sccoud,  the  Miuor  Prcviisc ;  and  the 
Conclusion,  third,  the  Conclnsion.  In  the  last  of  the 
above  syllogisms,  "All  men  are  mortal"  is  the  major 
premise;  "Moses  was  a  man,"  the  minor  premise; 
and  "Moses  was  mortal,"  the  conclusion. 

It  is  also  to  be  noted  that  while  each  of  the  prop- 
ositions of  a  syllogism  contains  two  terms  {p.  68),  the 
three  propositions  together  contain  only 
tJirec  different  terms.  The  major  and  minor 
premises  of  every  true  syllogism  contain  a  common 
term,  called  the  middle  term,  and  their  two  other 
terms  are  embodied  in  the  conclusion.  The  necessity 
of  a  middle  term  in  every  syllogism  often  assists  in 
the  detection  of  a  fallacy  in  syllogistic  reasoning. 

It  is  not  always  necessary  in  deductive  reasoning  to 
state  both  of  the  premises.  One  premise  may  be  so 
The  Enthy-  obvious  as  not  to  uccd  formal  expression, 
meme.  j^  ^-,6  example,  "Moses  was  a  man,  and 
hence  he  was  mortal,"  the  omitted  major  premise, 
"All  men  are  mortal,"  is  obvious  and  readily  sup- 
plied. In  the  example,  "All  men  are  mortal,  and 
hence  Moses  was  mortal,"  it  is  assumed  that  Moses 
was  a  man.  A  syllogism  thus  abridged  by  the  omis- 
sion of  one  of  its  premises,   is  called  an  Eiithymeme. 

Various   rules  or  dicta  have   been   given  for  testing 

Rules  of       the  validity  of  a  syllogism,  as  the  principles 

Deduction,      ^f  identity,  of  contradiction,  and  the  excluded 

middle,  but  these  tests  do  not  constitute  the  reason  for 


THE  INTELLECT.  jy 

the  inference  or  conclusion.  Tlie  mind  may  reason 
deductively  with  accuracy  in  utter  ignorance  of  the 
syllogism  as  such,  as  well  as  of  all  the  rules  by  which 
its  validity  can  be  tested. 

What  is  the  nature  of  the  reason  that  guides  the 
mind  from  premises  to  conclusion  ?  It  has  been  shown 
that  the   mind   never   infers   with   certainty 

The  Reason. 

a  general  truth  from  particular  facts  until  it 
discerns  in  the  particular  facts  a  sufficient  reason  for 
such  inference  (p.  72).  This  sufficient  reason  may  be 
a  discerned  necessity  of  nature  or  of  thought,  including 
such  necessary  relations  as  cause  and  effect,  means  and 
end,  substance  and  attribute,  adaptation,  etc.  This 
discerned  reason  for  the  induction  of  a  general  truth 
from  known  particular  facts  constitutes  the  ground  or 
reason  for  the  deduction  of  a  particular  fact  from  a 
general  truth.  The  mind  discerns  in  the  general  truth 
the  sjtfficient  reason  for  inferring  the  particular  fact. 

This  is  made  clear  by  the  following  illustration : 
All  material  bodies  are  attracted  towards  the  earth's 
center;    this   thistle-down   is  a    material    body:    hence 
this   thistle-down,    which    is   now   rising   in    the   air,    is 
attracted  towards  the  earth's  center. 

What  is  the  ground  or  reason  of  this  particular  in- 
ference in  the  face  of  the  evidence  of  the  sense  of 
sight?  Let  us  precede  this  question  by  another;  to 
wit.  What  reason  enabled  the  mind  to  pass  from  a 
comparatively  few  observed  facts  of  attraction  to  the 
general  induction,  "All  material  bodies  are  attracted 
towards  the  earth's  center?"  The  sufficient  reason  for 
this  induction  is  the  belief  that  attraction  is  an  essen- 
tial   property    of    matter,     an    energy    abiding    in    its 


78  EL  EM  EX  TS  0  F  FED  A  GOGV. 

essence,  and  thus  the  mind  discerns  in  observed  phe- 
nomena of  attraction  a  cause  {}-atw  csscndi)  which 
necessitates  the  inference  that  all  material  bodies  are 
attracted  towards  the  earth's  center.  It  is  this  same 
discerned  cause  in  the  major  premise  that  becomes 
the  sufficient  reason  for  the  deduction  of  the  particular 
fact  that  the  floating  thistle-down  is  actually  attracted 
towards  the  earth's  center. 

In  what  are  called  mathematical  and  logical  deduc- 
tions, this  sufficient  reason  is  a  necessary  space  or 
time  relation  or  a  thought  relation.  In  all  deductive 
reasoning,  it  is  the  discerned  necessary  relation  of 
this  reason  and  conclusion  that  gives  convincing  force 
to  the  argument. 

It   is  thus  seen   that    there   is  a  very  close  relation 

between    inductive    and    deductive    reasoning.      In    all 

probable    reasoning,     induction    establishes 

Induction         >■  ^\ 

and  the  truth  of  the  major  premise  of  the  de- 

Deduction.  (j^Q|-iyQ  syllogism,  and  either  induction  or 
formal  judgment  furnishes  the  minor  premise.  The 
validity  of  the  conclusion  depends  on  the  validity  of 
the  premises.  If  either  premise  is  only  a  probable 
truth,  the  conclusion  will  be  only  a  probable  truth. 
Deductive  reasoning  also  assists  in  induction,  and  the 
two  processes  are  generally  more  or  less  blended  in 
all  rational  thought. 

It   is   also    seen   that  both   inductive  and   deductive 

reasoning  depend  on  conception  and  judgment.      Con- 

„  ,    .       ,     ception  furnishes  the  general  concepts  and 

Relation  of  i^  ^  ^ 

the  Thought    ideas  which   formal  judgment   compares  in 

its    propositions,    and    both    inductive    and 

deductive  reasoning  use  propositions.     Judgment  com- 


THE  INTELLECT.  79 

pares  concepts  and  ideas ;  reason  compares  propo- 
sitions or  judgments.  Another  distinction  between 
judging  and  reasoning  is  that  the  former  is  direct  and 
immediate,  and  the  latter  indirect  and  mediate — ob- 
served facts  and  necessary  truths  being  the  media  by 
which  the  reason  reaches  its  conclusions.  Reasoning 
is  sometimes  called  mediate  judging,  or  judging  by 
inference. 

The  question  may  be  raised  whether  deductive  rea- 
soning adds  to  man's  knowledge,  since  the  majof 
premise  really  includes  the  conclusion.      It 

^  •'  Value  of 

is  important  to  make  a  distinction  between  Deductive 
the  fact  that  the  major  premise  includes  easomng. 
the  conclusion  and  our  prior  knowledge  of  this  fact. 
It  is  this  very  fact  which  the  deduction  (if  real)  dis- 
closes. When,  for  example,  we  see  the  thistle-down 
rising  from  the  earth,  we  may  not  know  that  it  is 
attracted  toward  the  earth  until  we  apply  to  it  the 
general  fact  that  all  material  bodies  are  thus  attracted. 
Moreover,  neither  the  person  who  frames  a  deductive 
argument,  nor  those  to  whom  it  is  addressed,  may 
have  established  the  major  premise  by  induction. 
This  may  be  accepted  as  the  induction  of  another 
mind,  and,  the  reason  being  discerned,  it  may  be 
confidently  applied  to  objects  beyond  personal  ob- 
servation, or  used  to  explain  observed  phenomena. 
Man's  knowledge  is  thus  widened  and  increased. 

Attention  has  been  called  to  the  fact  that  in  obser- 
vation the  mind  perceives  and  knows  much  more  than 
the  senses  disclose  (p.  48),  and  it  may  now        Eye  of 
be  added  that  the  eye  of  reason  sees  truth        Reason, 
that    lies   far   beyond   the   ken    of  sense.      Observation 


8o  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

sees  only  the  present  phenomena  of  nature,  but 
thought  interprets  observed  phenomena  and  discerns 
nature's  marvelous  truths,  forces,  and  laws. 

Scientific  Thought. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  tendency  of  the 
mind  to  pass  from  the  facts  of  judgment,  limited  to 
known  objects,  to  universal  facts.  Conception  takes 
the  individual  concepts  of  sense  and  experience,  and 
forms  general  concepts,  under  which  objects  are  clas- 
sified. Judgment  discerns  and  affirms  the  common 
attributes  of  objects  and  the  similarity  or  difference 
of  concepts,  thus  furnishing  facts,  particular  and 
general  (limited).  Reason  interprets  these  facts  of 
judgment,  and  by  induction  reaches  universal  facts 
that  comprehend  and  explain  them.  When  such  a 
universal  fact  is  reached  and  the  included  facts  are 
arranged  under  it,  the  result  is  Science;  i.  e.,  knowl- 
edge reduced  to  system.  It  is  thus  seen  that  there 
may  be  as  many  sciences  as  there  are  universal  facts 
under  which  the  related  knowledge  may  be  classified 
and  arranged. 

It  is  true  that  observation  and  the  several  thought 

powers  have  each  what  may  properly  be  called  a  sci- 

^  .     .^        entific    phase   of  activity,   possible    only   to 

Scientific  ^  . 

and  Common    the    dcvclopcd    and    trained    intellect    and 
Thought.       ^^^.jj       j^^    common    observation    the    mind 

perceives  only  the  more  obvious  qualities  and  relations 
of  objects,  and  the  resulting  concepts  are  the  basis 
of  the  facts  of  common  knowledge.  In  its  scientific 
phase,  observation  discriminates  more  keenly  and  per- 
ceives   the    less    obvious,    but    often    more    important, 


THE  INTELLECT.  8 1 

attributes  of  objects,  and  the  resulting  sharply  defined 
concepts  are  the  basis  of  scientific  facts.  The  ele- 
mentary inductions  of  science  differ  from  the  inductions 
of  common  thought  —  of  common  sense,  if  this  be 
clearer  —  chiefly  in  the  degree  of  acuteness  and  energy 
of  the  reasoning  power  required.  Scientific  thought 
is  characterized  by  closer  observation,  wider  compari- 
son, and  sharper  analysis  in  conception,  more  accurate 
judging,  and  more  careful  induction,  than  common 
thought. 

It  is,  however,  to  be  observed  that  these  two  phases 
of  thought  involve  the  same  processes  and  the  activity 
of  the  same  mental  powers.*  This  fact  is  made  evi- 
dent, if  we  compare  the  mental  processes  involved  in 
the  concepts,  facts,  inductions,  and  classifications  which 
make  up  a  common  knowledge  of  plants,  with  those 
involved  in  the  scientific  concepts,  facts,  inductions, 
and  classifications  included  in  the  science  of  botany. 

It  is  also  true  that  no  clear  distinction  can  be  made 
between  common  knowledge  and  scientific  knowledge. 
The  one  blends  into  the  other.  The  more  sharply  de- 
fined facts  relating  to  the  earth's  surface,  to  climate,  day 
and  night,  etc.,  gained  by  common  observation  and 
thought,  are  the  elements  of  the  science  of  geography. 

But  the  elementary  facts  of  science  do  not  consti- 
tute science.  What  is  further  needed  is  that  deeper 
insight    of   the    reason    which    can    discern 

"  _  _        _  Science. 

those    universal    facts    and    principles    that 
comprehend  and   explain  all   related  knowledge,   thus 
determining  and  making  possible  its  orderly  classifica- 
tion and  systematic  arrangement. 

*See   Porter's   "  Human   Intellect,"  ^  435- 


82  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

But  human  reason   does   not  stop  with   the   general 

facts  of  induction    that   make  science   possible,    but   it 

seeks  to  go   back  to  those  causative  ener- 

Philosophy. 

gies  and  controlling  laws  that  produce  and 
explain  all  events  and  phenomena.  When  such  a 
causative  and  controlling  principle  is  discerned,  the 
highest  phase  of  scientific  thought  is  reached,  and  the 
result  '\s  philosop/tj',  which  Fichte  properly  calls  "the 
science  of  science. "  The  highest  aim  of  philosophy, 
and  consequently  of  human  reason,  is  to  discern  the 
ultimate,  self-determining  principle  of  the  universe. 
This  aim  Agassiz  realized  when  he  saw  in  science  an 
"interpretation  of  the  thoughts  of  the  Creator;"  and 
Kepler,  when  he  devoutly  exclaimed,  "O  God!  I  think 
thy  thoughts  after  thee!" 


THE  INTELLECT. 


83 


w       .- 

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n.-.2 
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s;  =  0  rt 

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56 


-a  ;z;    cu 


M      i^ 


c  — 


84  ELEMENTS  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 


ACTIVITY  AND  GROWTH  OF  MENTAL  TOWERS  * 

The  foregoing  analysis  of  intellectual  processes  shows 
that  the  presentativc  power  awakens  into  activity 
Order  of  bcforc  the  representative,  and  both  of 
Activity.  these  powers  before  the  rational  or  thought 
power.  This  order  is  a  psychical  necessity.  It  is  im- 
possible for  the  mind  to  recall  and  represent  an  object 
not  previously  known,  and  it  is  equally  impossible  for 
the  mind  to  form  and  apply  general  concepts  of  any 
kind  if  it  be  not  in  possession  of  individual  concepts 
to  compare  and  generalize.  The  mind's  activity  in 
both  consciousness  and  sense-perception  must  precede 
memory,  and  memory  must  precede  conception — the 
simplest  form  of  thought  activity. 

In   like  manner  and   for  a  like   reason,    the   activity 
of  the    several    powers    included   in   the    presentativc, 
How  representative,   or  thought  powers,  and  the 

Conditioned,  higher  pliascs  of  activity  of  each  included 
power,  are  conditioned  iipon  the  loiver.  Sense-percep- 
tion is  conditioned  upon  sensation — the  primary  psy- 
chical act — and  consciousness  is  conditioned  upon  both 
sensation  and  sense-perception.  The  perception  of 
objects,  psychical  and  physical,  conditions  the  intuitive 
perception  of  their  necessary  relations,  and,  in  turn, 
the    intuitions    condition    the   completed    act  of  sense- 


*It  is  to  be  kept  in  mind  that  what  is  meant  by  power  is  the 
soul's  capability  to  put  forth  a  definite  activity.  It  is  not  the  power 
that  acts,  but  the  soul  puts  forth  its  jjower,  and  this  is  its  action. 
The  presentative  power  is  the  soul's  capability  to  put  forth  present- 
ativc acts. 


MENTAL  ACTIVITY.  85 

perception.  It  is  not  meant  that  tliere  is  necessarily 
a  conscious  interval  between  these  related  presentative 
acts.  Consciousness  accompanies  and  blends  with  the 
acts  and  states  which  it  perceives,  and  the  intuitive 
acts  blend  with  the  acts  of  sense-perception  and  con- 
sciousness. 

The  activity  of  the  several  representative  powers  is 
subject  to  the  same  condition.      Memory  is  conditioned 
upon  simple  representation,  and  the  imag-      *    •  • 
ination    is    conditioned    upon    both    simple     Representa- 

,     ,  •  1  •  ,  1  tive  Powers. 

representation  and  memory,  smce  these 
powers  furnish  the  materials  which  the  imagination 
modifies,  or  recombines  into  new  wholes.  The  higher 
phases  of  activity  of  the  imagination  are  in  like  man- 
ner conditioned  upon  the  lower.  It  is  not  easy  to 
determine  Avhich  of  the  two  modifying  phases  (p.  56), 
appears  first,  since  they  both  appear  very  early  in  the 
child's  life,  as  every  nursery  clearly  shows ;  but  these 
phases  condition  the  constructive  phase,  which  appears 
a  little  later.  The  constructive  imagination  is  active 
when  a  few  lines  drawn  on  board  or  paper  enable  the 
child  to  image  a  tree,  a  house,  a  bird,  a  person,  etc., 
and  especially  when  the  accompanying  of  the  picture 
with  little  stories,  told  in  a  lively  manner,  enables  the 
child  to  put  more  in  his  mental  image  than  the  picture 
itself  represents  or  suggests.  This  is  the  power  that 
lends  such  a  charm  to  illustrated  nursery  books.  Still 
later  the  child  acquires  the  power  to  construct  or 
image  objects  and  scenes  described  in  language  (first 
oral,  and  later  written),  thus  forming  notions  of  objects 
which  it  has  not  seen.  Wise  oral  teaching  constantly 
appeals  to  the  constructive  imagination,  and  the  intel- 
ligent   reading    of  books    containing    stories    or    other 


86  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

descriptions,  calls  for  its  lively  exercise.  It  may  be 
properly  characterized  as  the  school  phase  of  the 
imagination.  It  is  soon  accompanied  by  the  crea- 
tive imagination  which  conceives  and  constructs  new 
images. 

The   same    order  is  observed  in   the   activity  of  the 

several    thought     powers.      Conceptivc    generalization 

Thought       precedes  formal  judging,  and  both  concep- 

Powers.       ^Jqj-^    gj-,(j    judging    precede    reasoning.      In 

other  words,    reasoning   is   conditioned   upon  judging, 

and  judging  upon  conception. 

The  order  in  the  activity  of  the  several  intellectual 
powers,    above  indicated,    also   prevails  in  their  devel- 

Orderof  opmeut.  The  prescntative  power  reaches 
Development,  -yyi-j^t  may  be  Called  its  natural  development 
before  the  representative  power,  and  both  of  these 
before  the  thought  power.  The  last  of  the  represent- 
ative powers  to  reach  an  activity  and  energy  equal  to 
that  of  sense-perception  is  the  creative  imagination, 
and  the  last  of  the  thought  powers  to  reach  a  like 
development  is  reason,  the  power  of  deductive  reason- 
ing appearing  and  developing  later  than  inductive. 

There  are  considerable  intervals  between  the  periods 
in  which  the  higher  faculties  reach  a  development  equal 
to  that  of  the  lower,*  but  it  is  an  error  to  infer  that 
there  are  corresponding  intervals  between  their  awaken- 
ings to  activity.  The  first  conscious  acts  of  perception 
(outer  or  inner)  and  memory  accompany  each  other. 
The    forming   of  general    concepts   and    ideas   is  near 


*This  degree  of  development  may  be  more  clearly  expressed  by 
mature  development  or  maturity,  but  these  terms  involve  the  idea 
of  a  cessation  of  growth  and  even  decay. 


MENTAL  ACTIVITY.  87 

the  synthesis  of  the  related  sense-concepts.  Formal 
judgment  follows  conception  closely,  and  inductive 
reasoning  appears  only  a  little  later.  The  two  powers 
which  awaken  into  activity  latest,  are  the  creative 
imagination  and  deductive  reasoning. 

But  how  early  do  the  several  intellectual  powers 
become  active,  and  what  is  their  relative  activity  and 
energy  in  the  successive  periods  of  the  Eariy 
child's  life?  Or,  stating  these  inquiries  Activity. 
more  accurately,  how  early  docs  the  soul  put  forth  its  sev- 
eral intellecttial  activities,  and  ivhat  is  the  relative  degree  of 
these  activities  in  the  successive  periods  of  the  child's  life? 

The  answers  to  these  important  questions  can  only 
be  determined  by  the  obs^'vation  and  study  of  chil- 
dren,  and,    fortunately,    this   is   not   a   new 

'  ;  _  '  Child  Study. 

field  of  inquiry.  No  other  beings  have 
been  so  carefully  and  lovingly  observed,  and  the  re- 
corded results,  covering  centuries,  present  child  life 
under  many  and  diverse  conditions.  Most  of  these 
observations,  however,  are  not  characterized  by  sci- 
entific accuracy,  and  their  records  are  too  widely 
scattered  in  literature  for  easy  comparison  and  study. 
They  need  to  be  supplemented  by  more  accurate 
observations,  and  all  to  be  interpreted  by  the  best 
scientific  methods. 

This  scientific  study  of  children  has  been  greatly 
stimulated  in  later  years  by  the  writings  of  Comenius, 
Locke,  Rousseau,  Pestalozzi,  Froebel,  and  other  edu- 
cational reformers,  and  it  is  now  receiving  the  earnest 
attention  of  progressive  educators  in  this  country  and 
in  Europe.  The  results  of  some  of  the  more  recent 
investigations  are  now  accessible. 


88  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

The  study  of  these  results  shows  that  it  is  not  an 

easy  task    to    determine   the    psychical   condition  of  a 

Child  Study    child,  and  especially  of  a  class  of  children. 

Difficult.  Such  investigation  is  rendered  difficult  by 
the  marvelous  power  of  children  to  divine  what  is  in 
the  mind  of  the  questioner,  and  the  equally  marvelous 
facility  with  which  they  catch  and  use  words,  with 
or  without  ideas.  Their  skill  in  attaching  familiar  but 
wrong  ideas  to  neiv  words  often  amounts  to  an  appar- 
ent genius  for  blundering,  but  to  infer  from  these 
word  blunders  that  they  are  ignorant  of  the  things 
involved,  would  not  unfrequently  be  a  mistake. 

It  must  also  be  admitted  that  there  is  no  little  dif- 
ficulty in  applying  the  general  conclusions,  reached 
by  a  comparison  of  these  results,  to  individual  cases  — 
a  fact  due  to  the  marked  difference  in  children  of  the 
same  age,  and  often  in  the  same  family.  One  child 
may  possess  an  energy  of  imagination  at  six  years  of 
age  which  a  brother  or  a  sister  may  not  have  at  six- 
teen, and  like  striking  contrasts  are  observed  in  the 
development  of  the  several  thought  powers,  especially 
of  the  reason. 

Notwithstanding    the    difficulties    involved    in    child 

study,    it    is    believed    that    the    results    now    recorded 

indicate  with  some  clearness  the  psychical 

Interpreta-  ^     ^ 

tion  of  activity  of  children  at  different  ages,  and 
especially  when  these  results  are  interpreted 
in  the  light  of  general  psychology.  The  direct  bearing 
of  these  psychical  facts  on  the  principles  and  methods 
of  school  education  not  only  justify,  but  require  its 
clearest  possible  presentation. 

The  accompanying  diagram  (p.   90),  represents  the 


MENTAL  ACTIVITY.  89 

results  of  the  author's  study  of  this  problem.  It  is  de- 
signed to  show  the  relative  energy  and  activity  (more 
especially  the  activity)  of  the  several  intellectual  powers 
of  the  average  child  from  birth  to  twenty  years  of  age ; 
and  it  is  unnecessary  to  add  that,  like  all  graphic  de- 
vices, it  represents  the  facts  only  approximately. 

The  diagram  shows  that  the  presentative,  represent- 
ative, and  thought  powers  successively  awaken  to 
activity  between  birth  and  tv/o  to  three  order  of 
years  of  age,  and  that  the  nine  intellectual  Activity. 
powers  are  all  active  at  six  years  of  age.  The  three 
presentative  powers  begin  their  activity  so  closely 
together  (p.  85)  that  no  attempt  is  made  to  indicate 
in  the  diagram  their  successive  or  separate  activity 
and  development.  Their  activity  and  growth  concur 
and  blend  together. 

The  diagram  also  shows  that  memory  is  active  but 
little  later  than  perception,  and  that  imagination  (mod- 
ifying phase)  begins  activity  as  early  as  two  years  of 
age,  and  conception  but  little  later.  The  judgment 
or  fact  power  appears  as  early  as  three,  and  inductive 
reasoning  (chiefly  from  analogy)  as  early  as  five.  No 
attempt  is  made  to  show  the  activity  of  the  successive 
phases  of  the  imagination,  but  it  is  believed  that 
neither  the  creative  imagination  nor  deductive  reason- 
ing appears  usually  much  earlier  than  seven  or  eight 
years  of  age. 

The   diagram    further   shows    that   while    there   is  a 
continuous   development  of  the  intellect  as  a  whole, 
there  is  a  marked  difference  in  the  relative       Relative 
activity  and  energy  of  the  several  faculties       Activity, 
at   different    ages.      The    perceptive    powers   are    most 

W.  p.— 8. 


90 


ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 


Activity  of  Mental  Powers. 


Powers. 

I.   Presentative. 
2  2\   Representative 
3  Z'  z'\  Thought. 


2.  Memory. 
2^.   Imagination 

(and  Phantasy). 

3.  Conception, 
udgment. 

3''^.   Reason. 


MENTAL  ACTIVITY.  9 1 

active  from  birth  to  ten  years  of  age,  reaching  their 
normal  activity  at  eight  to  ten,  while  the  representa- 
tive and  thought  powers,  which  are  comparatively 
feeble  at  six,  become  the  leading  powers  from  fourteen 
to  eighteen.  It  is  not  meant  that  the  strength  or 
energy  of  the  perceptive  power  lessens  after  eight 
years  of  age,  but  that  its  activity  becomes  less  and  less, 
owing  to  the  increasing  time  given  to  representative 
and  thought  activities.  It  is  to  be  kept  in  mind  that 
the  diagram  primarily  represents  the  relative  activity  of 
the  several  intellectual  powers. 

It  will  be  observed  that  there  is  a  marked  difference 
in  the  relative  activity  of  the  thought  powers  at  dif- 
ferent ages.  The  conceptive  power  is  most  Thought 
active  from  three  to  ten  —  the  zvoj-d  learning  Powers, 
period  of  child  life.  Judgment  increases  steadily  in 
activity  after  its  awakening,  at  about  three  years  of 
age,  and  the  reasoning  power,  whose  activity  is  but 
a  trace  at  six,  becomes  the  leading  thought  power  at 
sixteen.  The  power  of  inductive  reasoning  follows 
closely  the  ability  to  judge  or  reason  by  analogy,  and 
later  and  increasingly  the  power  of  deductive  reasoning 
is  active. 

In  their  earlier  thought  activity,  children  form  con- 
cepts and  acquire  facts  which  involve  the  more  obvious 
qualities  and  relations  of  common  obiects —     „      ^    , 

^  -"  How  Early 

the  concepts  and  facts  of  child  observation      children 
and  experience ;  and  they  reach  one  by  one 
the  simpler  inductions  of  common  knowledge,   chiefly 
at  first  the  easy  inductions  of  analogy.      It  is  doubtless 
true   that   many  of  the    first   apparent    inductions    of 
children  are   formal  judgments  only,    and   as  such  arc 


92  ELEMENTS  OE  PEDAGOGY. 

limited  to  known  objects ;  but  it  is  an  error  to  sup- 
pose that  children  do  not  truly  reason  before  ten  years 
of  age.  Locke  held  that  children  reason  as  early  as 
they  understand  language,  and  he  adds,  "  if  I  misob- 
serve  not,  they  love  to  be  treated  as  rational  creatures 
sooner  than  is  imagined." 

When  a  child  asks  for  the  why  or  reason  of  things 
that  interest  him,  the  reasoning  power  is  active.  A 
bright  child  makes  many  inductions  before  he  is  six 
years  of  age,  and  often  acts  upon  them  intelligently. 
Ask  a  bright  lad,  in  his  sixth  year,  why  dogs  can 
not  fly,  why  children  can  slide  on  ice,  why  people 
wear  thicker  clothes  in  winter  than  in  summer,  why 
a  stone  will  fall  if  dropped,  and  he  will  give  reasons, 
though,  perhaps,  not  scientific  ones. 

It  seems  important  to  note  in  this  connection  that 
the  development  of  the  intellectual  faculties  is  condi- 
tioned upon  the  corresponding  development  of  the 
sensibility  and  the  will.  The  activity  of  the  mind  in 
knowing  depends,  among  other  things,  on  the  acute- 
ness  and  energy  of  the  senses,  the  intensity  of  the 
emotions  and  desires,  and  the  energy  and  constancy 
of  the  will.  In  childhood  the  development  of  all  the 
psychical  powers  depends  much  on  the  growth  of  the 
Bodily  body.  Attention,  which  is  primarily  an 
Conditions,  ^ct  of  the  will,  depends  not  only  on  interest 
excited  by  feeling,  but  also  on  the  sustaining  power 
of  the  body,  and  this,  other  conditions  being  favor- 
able, increases  as  children  grow  older.  The  young 
child  can  attend  to  any  one  object  a  much  shorter  time 
than  an  adult,  and  the  same  is  true  of  the  relative 
duration  of  all  psychical  activities. 


MENTAL  ACTIl'ITY.  93 

It  is  not  meant  that  the  development  and  energy 
of  the  psychical  powers  are  determined  by  or  neces- 
sarily keep  pace  with  the  growth  of  the  Mutual 
body.  The  growth  of  the  mind  may  lag  Dependence. 
far  behind,  or  may  greatly  exceed  that  of  the  body. 
Primarily  the  development  of  all  man's  powers,  phys- 
ical and  psychical,  depends  on  their  normal  and 
harmonious  exercise.  If  the  mind  be  not  properly 
exercised  with  the  bodily  powers,  its  development  will 
be  comparatively  slow  and  its  energy  feeble.  On  the 
other  hand,  while  mere  animal  activity  may  secure  the 
growth  and  health  of  the  body,  the  skillful  activity  of 
the  bodily  powers  depends  on  the  supporting  energy 
and  activity  of  the  psychical  powers.  The  seeing  of 
the  eye,  the  hearing  of  the  ear,  and  the  deftness  of 
the  hand  all  depend  on  the  energizing  and  directing 
activity  of  the  intellect,  the  sensibility,  and  the  will. 
There  is  a  general  law  of  interdependence  and  in- 
teraction that  runs  through  all  human  powers  and 
activities. 


''*:?Jl^^J^^mi 


PRINCIPLES  OF  TEACHING. 


(95) 


PRINCIPLES  OF  TEACHING. 


ENDS  AND  MEANS. 

The  one  comprehensive  end  of  education  is  to  pre- 
pare  man   to  fnljill  the  purposes   of  Jnnnan   existenee ; 

i.   e.,    TO  LIVE  COMPLETELY.        Thcse  purposes  Ends  ot 

include  the  perfection  of  man's  nature  for  Education. 
his  highest  well-being  and  happiness,  and  his  prepara- 
tion for  the  right  discharge  of  all  the  obligations  and 
duties  which  spring  from  his  relations  to  his  fellows, 
to  society,  to  the  state,  and  to  God.  It  is  obvious 
that  this  comprehensive  end  is  not  met  by  training 
man  to  be  an  artisan,  a  merchant,  a  soldier,  or  even 
a  citizen  as  such.  The  purposes  of  a  complete  life 
touch  all  the  relations  of  man  as  man,  and  hence  tax 
all  his  powers  and  activities. 

It  follows  that  the  means  to  this  comprehensive  end 
of  education  include  (i)  the  development  and  training 
of  all  man's  powers,  psychical  and  physical; 

*  '   >■     -^  •>•      -"  '  Means. 

(2)  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  needed  for 
guidance,  growth,  and  enjoyment ;  and  (3)  the  acqui- 
sition of  skill  in  the  application  of  power  and  knowl- 
edge to  the  purposes  of  life.  These  three  important 
means — power,  knowledge,  and  skill  —  may  be  consid- 
ered the   immediate  ends  of  education.     They  include 

W.    P.-g.  (97) 


98  EL  EM  EN  TS  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 

(i)  the  developing  and  training  of  the  powers  of  the 
intellect  and  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  or  intel- 
lectual education;  (2)  the  developing  and  training  of 
the  higher  sensibility  and  the  will,  or  moral  education; 
and  (3)  the  development  and  training  of  the  bodily 
powers,  or  physical  edjication. 

In  practice  these  three  kinds  of  education  can  not 
be  wholly  separated.  Intellectual  education  is  condi- 
tioned upon  moral  education  and,  to  some  extent,  on 
physical ;  and  moral  education  depends  on  the  intellect 
for  knowledge  and  insightri  and  for  some  of  its  highest 
motives.  In  studying  the  principles  of  teaching  there 
is,  however,  an  advantage  in  giving  attention  succes- 
sively to  these  different  kinds  or  phases  of  training, 
and,  for  this  reason,  we  shall  first  study  teaching  as  a 
means  of  intellectual  education^ 

The  three  immediate  ends  of  education — power, 
knowledge,   and    skill — constitute    the    three    ends   of 

Ends  of       teaching,  and  since  the  acquiring  of  knowl- 

Teaching.      edge  is  the  means  of  increasing  the  power 

to  acquire  knowledge  (p.  50),  we  may,  for  our  present 

purpose,  consider  knowledge  the  first  end  of  teaching,- 

power  the  second  end,  and  skill  the  third. 

Knowledge  as  an  end  of  teaching  includes  (i)  orig- 
inal knowledge,    or    knowledge    obtained    directly    by 
observation  and  thought;  and   (2)  recorded 

Knowledge.  fc.         '  v     / 

knowledge,  or  knowledge  expressed  or  re- 
corded in  language,  as  in  books ;  also  acquired  hy  th<? 
learner's  own  activity  (p.    iii). 

Power  is  inherent  or  developed  ability  for  action, 
intellectual,  moral,  and  physical.  The  term  is  used 
in   these    pages    in   the   active  sense   of  capability  for 


EXDS  AND  MEANS.  99 

self-activMty,  or  for  activity  when  called  forth,  and  also 
in  the  more  passive  sense  of  capacity  to  receive  or 
resist,  but  usually  in  the  active  sense  of  ca- 

^_  Power. 

pability.     When  inherent  power  is  changed 
in  mode   or  direction  of  activity  it   is   called  acgimrd 
power.     The    power   of  the    soul    to    know    is    called 
intellectual  power. 

Intellectual  power,  as  an  end  of  teaching,  includes 
(i)  the  power  to  acquire  original  knowledge;  (2)  the 
power  to  acquire  recorded  or  expressed  knowledge ; 
(3)  the  power  to  express  knowledge  in  language,  oral 
and  written  ;  and  (4)  the  power  to  apply  or  use  knowl- 
edge,' the  last  two  including  skill. 

Skill  is  power  guided  by  knowledge  and  made  ready 
and  facile  by  practice.  Skill  is  the  art  phase  of  power, 
and  includes  readiness  and  facility  in  action. 

^  Skill. 

The  term  power  is  used  to  denote  ability 
when  skill  is  either  wanting  or  not  prominent,  and 
the  term  skill  is  applied  to  ability  when  skill  is  a 
prominent  clement ;  and  this  distinction  is  believed  to 
be  sufficiently  clear  to  justify  the  use  of  power  and 
skill  as  separate  terms. '=^  It  is  of  great  practical  im- 
portance in  school  education. 

Skill    as  a   distinct    end   of  teaching   in   elementary 
schools   has  more   special  reference   to   readiness  and 
facility  in  tJic  fiiiidanicntal  arts  of  reading,    Fundamental 
writing,   language  (oral   and   written),   nnin-         •'^'■*^- 
bers,  drawing,  singing,  health,  and  behavior.     These  arts 


N.  B.  For  the  meaning  of  education,  teaching,  instruction,  training, 
learning,  study,  and  method,  see  pp.  134-137,  where  they  are  defined 
in  the  clear  light  of  previous  study  and  with  more  special  reference 
to  methods. 


lOO  ELEMENTS  OE  PEDAGOGY. 

are  not  only  fundamental  in  education,  but  also  in 
practical  life.  Skill  also  has  reference  to  readiness 
and  facility  in  all  mental  processes,  whether  involving 
the  senses,  or  the  powers  of  memory,  imagination, 
and  thought. 

It  is  assumed  in  this  study  of  teaching  that  it  is  an 
a}'t,  and  as  such  has  its  underlying  principles  which 
Teaching  determine  its  methods.  There  can  be  no 
an  Art.  ^^^^  jj^  ^\-^q  ^^^g  scnsc  of  the  term,  in  the 
absence  of  guiding  principles,  and  this  is  especially 
true  of  teaching.  The  human  >oul  can  not  be  un- 
folded and  furnished  by  pattern  The  laws  which  gov- 
ern the  activity  and  growth  of  its  powers  must  guide 
in  their  training.  The  teacher  must  be  an  artist,  and 
the  teacher  of  a  child  the  artist  of  artists. 


PRINCIPLES. 

We  are  now  prepared  to  consider  teaching  in  the 
light  of  the  facts  of  psychology,  previously  stated. 
These  facts  clearly  disclose  the  following  fundamental 
principles — the  most  important  that  underlie  and  guide 
the  teacher's  art. 

Principle  I. 

Teaching,  both  in  matter  and  method,  must  be  adapted 
to  the  capability  of  the  taugJit. 

This  is  a  fundamental  axiom  of  teaching,  requiring 
neither  proof  nor  elucidation.  The  most  primary  con- 
ception of  education  makes  evident  the  truth  that  the 
wJiat  and  the  hoiv  of  teaching  must  be  adapted  to  the 
capability  of  the  pupil.      This  principle  is  fundamental, 


PRINCIPLES.  lOI 

since  all  other  principles  are  based  upon  it,  and  it  will 
be  seen  that  all  others  are  in  harmony  with  it. 

The  application  of  this  principle  to  school  instruction 
raises  two  important  psychical  questions;  to  wit: 

1.  Do  the  pupils  in  the  schools  present  a  varying 
capability  as  they  pass  up  through  successive  grades? 

2.  If  so,  in  what  respects  does  their  capability  vary, 
and  to  what  is  this  variation  due? 

The  varying  capability  of  pupils  as  they  pass  from 
the  primary  to  the  higher  grades  is  an  obvious  fact — 
too  obvious  to  require  proof;  and  so  we  may  pass  at 
once  to  the  consideration  of  the  second  question,  the 
most  important  and  fruitful  question  which  pedagogy 
is  called  upon  to  answer.  Let  us  first  narrow  the 
question  to  the  variation  in  the  intellectual  capability 
of  pupils. 

This  varying  capability  of  pupils  in  the  successive 
grades  must  be  due  to  one  or  more  of  three  psychical 
facts ;  to  wit: 

1.  A  variation  in  the  activity  and  energy  of  the 
mind  as  a  ivhole ;  i.  e.,  of  all  its  powers. 

2.  The  absence  or  non-activity  of  certain  powers  of 
the  mind  in  the  younger  pupils,  and  the  successive 
awakening  of  these  powers  to  activity  as  pupils  grow 
older. 

3.  A  variation  in  the  relative  activity  and  energy  of 
the  several  mental  powers  at  different  ages. 

The  first  of  these  supposed  facts  is  the  basis  of  the 
theory  that  primary  pupils  may  be  taught  the  same 
kinds  of  knowledge   as  the   pupils   in   the 

'^  .  First  Theory. 

higher  grades,  and  by  essentially  the  same 

methods,  the  only  radical  difference  between  primary 


I02  ELEMENTS  OE  PEDAGOGY. 

and  advanced  instruction  being  in  the  amount  of  knowl- 
edge taught,  the  former  covering  daily  less  ground 
than  the  latter.  Forty  years  ago,  and  even  later, 
elementary  text-books  were  constructed  on  this  theory. 
The  earlier  elementary  arithmetics  began  with  formal 
definitions,  and  rules  preceded  the  problems  which 
were  solved  "according  to  rule."  The  primary  geog- 
raphies began  with  the  same  definitions  as  the  more 
advanced  treatises,  even  including  mathematical  defini- 
tions, and  otherwise  covered  substantially  the  same 
ground.  The  only  essential  difference  between  the 
elementary  and  the  higher  books  in  all  branches  was 
the  fact  that  the  former  were  thinner  than  the  latter. 

The  second  of  the  above  suppositions,  in  its  more 
extreme  interpretation,  assumes  that  the  mental  pow- 
Second  '  ^fs  activc  in  primary  pupils  are  the  present- 
Theory,  ative,  especially  the  power  of  observation; 
that  later  in  school  life  the  representative  powers,  in- 
cluding memory  and  imagination,  become  active ;  and 
still  later  the  thought  powers,  generalization  and  rea- 
soning. It  cuts  school  life  into  three  distinct  psychical 
stages  or  periods,  presentative,  representative,  and 
thought,  and  is  the  basis  of  the  theory  that  a  course 
of  school  instruction  may  be  cut  horizontally  into  three 
distinct  sections  or  periods,  the  lower  including  sense 
or  perceptive  knowledge,  the  intermediate  reproductive 
knowledge,  and  the  higher  or  advanced  generalized  and 
rational  knowledge.  These  three  periods  of  school 
instruction  have  been  respectively  designated  as  per- 
ceptive, conceptivc,  and  rational ;  also  as  objective, 
reproductive,  and  elaborative. 

The  third  supposition  assumes  that  all  the  intellect- 
ual powers  are  active  when  the  child  enters  school  at 


PRINCIPLES.  103 

six  years  of  age,  and  that  his  intellectual  condition  as 
he  advances  in  the  course  is  characterized  by  changes 
in   the   relative  activity  of  the  several  pow- 

-^  ^  Third  Theory. 

ers.  This  view  supports  the  theory  that 
both  the  matter  and  the  method  of  school  instruction 
should  correspondingly  change  from  year  to  year, — 
the  successive  phases  of  instruction  being  characterized 
by  the  relative  attention  given  to  the  different  kinds  o^ 
knowledge,  but,  more  especially,  by  the  method  in  which 
SJich  knowledge  is  taught. 

Which  of  these  suppositions  is  true  ? 

This  question  has  been  fully  answered  in  the  pre- 
ceding discussion  of  the  activity  and  growth  of  the 
mental  powers  (p.   84).      It  is  there  shown 

^    .  .     ^^         ^'  True  Theory. 

that  the  nine  intellectual  powers  are  all  act- 
ive (though  not  equally  so)  at  six  years  of  age ;  that 
the  child's  intellectual  condition  the  first  years  of 
school  life  is  characterized  by  the  activity  of  sense- 
perception  or  observation,  constructive  imagination, 
and  conceptive  generalization  (word  power),  sense- 
perception  being  the  leading  activity;  that  later  the 
imagination,  judgment  (fact  power),  and  inductive 
reasoning  become  more  active,  and  characterize  Intel- 
lectual  activity;  and  that  the  next  or  higher  phase  of 
development  is  characterized  by  the  activity  of  the 
creative  imagination,  and  the  reason,  inductive  and 
deductive.  There  is  a  marked  change  in  the  relative 
activity  of  the  three  thought  powers,  conception,  judg- 
ment, and  reason,  the  first  being  the  leading  thought 
activity  at  six  and  the  last  at  sixteen. 

In  these  changes  in  the  relative  activity  of  the  dif- 
ferent powers,  there  are  no  awakenings  of  new  powers 


1 04  EL  EMENTS  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 

and  no  sudden  transitions.  The  presentative  powers 
are  at  first  the  most  active,  but  the  thought  powers 
increase  in  activity  and  energy  from  year  to  year  until 
they  become  the  leading  powers  of  the  intellect.  It  is 
true  that  there  is  a  steady  increase  in  the  activity  and 
energy  of  the  mind  as  a  whole,  but  the  characteristic 
feature  of  its  development  is  the  variation  in  the  relative 
activity  of  the  several  intellectual  poivers. 

We  are  now  prepared  to  state  and  con.sider  a  second 
principle  of  teaching. 

Principle  II. 

There  is  a  natural  order  in  wJiich  the  pozve-s  of  the 
mind  should  be  exercised,  and  the  corresponding  k<^ds  of 
knowledge  taught. 

The  natural  order  in  which  the  mental  powers  should 
be  exercised  is  the  same  as  the  order  of  their  activity ; 
to  wit :  first,  the  presentative ;  second,  the  represent- 
ative; and,  third,  the  thought  power.  The  natural 
order  of  exercising  the  thought  powers  is,  first,  con- 
ception; second,  judgment  (formal);  and,  third,  reason, 
first  induction  and  later  deduction.  This  is  not  only 
the  natural  but  the  necessary  order  of  intellectual 
activity  in  childhood  (p.  84).  The  natural  movement 
of  the  mind  in  the  earlier  processes  of  knowing  is  from 
perception  through  representation  to  conception,  and 
from  conception  through  judgment  to  reason — that  is, 
from  sense  activity  to  reasontJig  through  the  activity  of 
the  intermediate  powers. 

This  principle   has  been  specialized  in  the  form  of 
Elementary    maxims  of  elementary  teaching,    including 
Maxims.       ^\^^  following: 


PRINCIPLES.  105 

1.  Observation  before  reasoning. 

2.  The  concrete  before  the  abstract:  sense  knoivlcdge 
before  thought  knowledge. 

3 .  Facts  before  definitions  or  principles. 

4.  Processes  before  rides. 

5 .  From  the  particidar  to  the  general. 

6.  From  the  simple  to  the  complex. 

7.  From  the  known  to  the  related  nnknozvn. 

These  maxims  relate  to  that  phase  of  the  process 
of  knowing  in  which  the  mind  is  acquiring  primary 
concepts  and  ideas,   elementary  facts,   and 

^    _  •'  Limitations. 

simple  inductions,  as  a  preparation  for  the 
acquisition  of  higher  or  scientific  knowledge.  They 
are  maxims  of  elemeiitary  teaching,  and  not  universal 
principles.  The  maxim,  "Processes  before  rules,"  is, 
for  example,  an  important  precept  in  the  teaching  of 
elementary  arithmetic,  but  no  wise  teacher  would  uni- 
formly or  generally  follow  it  in  teaching  the  higher 
mathematics,  and  it  has  its  exceptions  in  teaching  the 
higher  applications  of  arithmetic.  The  same  limitation 
specially  applies  to  the  maxims,  "The  concrete  before 
the  abstract,"  and  "From  the  particular  to  the  gen- 
eral." In  the  higher  phases  of  instruction  the  true 
order  is  often  from  the  abstract  to  the  concrete,  and 
from  the  general  to  the  particular,  this  being  always 
true  in  deductive  processes  (p.  75). 

It  is,  however,  to  be  observed  that  this  inverse  order 
is  only  possible  when  the  mind  is  in  possession  of 
those  primary  concepts,  ideas,  and  facts  which  are 
essential  to  the  apprehension  of  the  abstract  and  the 
general,  and  hence  the  above  maxims  are  true  direc- 
tions for  the  teaching  of  the  elements  of  all  branches 
of  knowledge,    especially    of  all    inductive    branches; 


I06  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

but  they  have  more  special  appHcation  to  elementary 
schools.  They  are  the  criteria  which  differentiate  an 
elementary  method  of  teaching  from  a  general  method. 

The  observing  of  this  natural  order  in  school  train- 
ing does  not  imply  that  there  should  be  long  or  even 
distinct   intervals    between   observation   and 

Intervals. 

reasonmg,  or  between  any  lower  activity 
and  the  related  higher.  The  successive  steps  by  which 
objective,  concrete,  and  abstract  or  general  knowledge 
are  acquired,  may  be  taken  the  same  school  term  and 
even  in  the  same  lesson.  The  principle  does,  however, 
imply  that  the  several  mental  powers  are  best  developed 
and  trained  by  observing  their  7iatiiral  and  Jiarmonioiis 
activity.  The  child  must  observe  as  a  child,  must 
think  as  a  child,  must  reason  as  a  child  in  his  psychical 
condition,  and  the  fact  is  to  be  kci)t  in  mind  that  a 
child  acquires  even  primary  knowledge  very  slowly. 
Any  attempt  to  force  the  young  mind  to  do  what  it 
has  not  the  energy  or  the  preparation  to  do,  is  to 
weaken  it.  There  is,  however,  danger  of  falling  into 
an  opposite  error,  and  limiting  the  mind  to  one  kind 
of  activity  when  it  is  prepared  and  has  a  natural  im- 
pulse for  a  higher  activity.  Children  may  be  kept 
swinging  on  the  gate  of  sense  when  they  are  fully 
prepared  to  make  easy  and  fruitful  excursions  into  the 
earden  of  thou^rht. 


It  follows  from  the  above  principles  that  tJierc  should 

be  a  variatio)i  in  the  relative  attention  given  to  the  several 

mental  powers,   and  the   correspondijio-  kinds 

Corollary.  ^  \  . 

of  knovi'ledge  in  the  successive  years  of  school 
training.      In    the   first    four    years   of  school    the    pre- 


PRINCIPLES.  107 

sentative  powers,  being  naturally  most  active,  should 
receive  most  attention  ;  in  the  next  four  years  atten- 
tion should  be  more  equally  divided  between  the 
presentative,  representative,  and  thought  powers ;  and 
in  succeeding  years  more  attention  should  be  given 
to  the  thought  powers,  and  esp^ially  to  the  reason. 
The  same  variation  should  be  observed  in  the  attention 
devoted  to  the  teaching  of  the  corresponding  kinds  of 
knowledge— sense  and  concrete  knowledge  receiving 
most  (but  not  exclusive)  attention  in  the  primary 
grades  of  school,  and  rational  knowledge  in  the  higher 
grades.  It  is  thus  seen  that  the  variation  in  the  rel- 
ative activity  of  the  mental  powers  occasions  phases 
of  development  which  are  severally  characterized  by 
leading  activities  of  the  mind  and  the  acquisition  of 
corresponding  kinds  of  knowledge. 

Principle  III. 

A  true  course  of  instructicn  for  elementary  schools  cuts 
off  a  section  of  presentative,  representative,  and  thought 
knowledge  each  year. 

This  principle  is  an  obvious  consequence  of  those 
already  considered,  and  is  equally  supported  by  the 
facts  of  psychology. 

Universal  observation  shows  that  children  at  six 
years  of  age  have  not  only  acquired  much  presenta- 
tive knowledge,  but  are  in  possession  of  a  considerable 
number  of  general  concepts  and  facts,  and,  by  the 
natural  activity  of  their  minds,  are  passing  increasingly 
from  sense  knowledge  to  thought  knowledge,  and  from 
the  particular  facts  of  observation  to  general  judg- 
ments, and,  to  a  limited  but  increasing  extent,  to  the 


I08  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

general  truths  of  reason.  It  is,  however,  to  be  remem- 
bered that  the  higher  thought  processes  have  compar- 
atively a  small  place  in  the  intellectual  activity  of  a 
child.  The  young  mind  acquires  several,  often  many, 
sense-concepts  before  it  forms  a  general  concept,  and 
it  must  often  acquii;e  many  individual  facts  before  it 
can  reach  a  general  fact,  even  one  of  judgment. 

It  follows  from  these  statements  that  while  primary 
instruction  should  give  its  chief  attention  to  present- 
Primary  ative  knowledge,  the  concepts  and  facts  of 
Course.  obscrvatiou  and  experience,  it  should  also 
increasingly  teach  the  more  obvious  generalizations  of 
these  facts  and  their  expression  in  language.  The 
first  year's  instruction  in  reading  should,  for  example, 
exercise  not  only  the  observing  powers,  but  also 
memory,  imagination  (modifying  and  constructive), 
conception,  and  judgment,  and  sparingly  inductive 
reasoning.  The  reading  lessons  of  the  first  school 
year  abound  in  words  expressing  general  concepts  and 
ideas,  and  the  little  sentences  therein  express  facts 
which  relate  to  the  feelings,  actions,  and  duties  of 
children  and  adults,  the  characteristic  actions  of  domes- 
tic animals,  the  more  obvious  qualities  and  relations 
of  common  objects,  including  their  class  relations,  and 
other  common  phenomena.  These  facts  are  both  par- 
ticular and  general,  as  a  glance  at  any  primer  or  first 
reader  will  show. 

It    is   thus    seen    that   the    general    knowledge    first 

taught  in  school  should  consist  of  common  concepts, 

Changes  in     common    facts,    and    common    inductions; 

Course.  j  ^,^  ^-]-jg  conccpts,  facts,  and  inductions 
which  involve  the  more  obvious  qualities  and  relations 


PRINCIPLES.  109 

of  common  objects  and  events,  and  thus  are  within 
the  capacity  and  experience  of  primary  pupils.  As 
pupils  grow  older  they  slowly  but  increasingly  acquire 
that  power  of  observation,  analysis,  and  generalization 
necessary  to  form  scientific  concepts,  and,  as  early  as 
the  fifth  school  year,  they  are  pjepared  to  learn  the 
simpler  elements  of  scientific  knowledge  (p.  80).  Four 
years  later  they  should  be  prepared  to  give  attention 
to  still  higher  forms  of  scientific  thought,  thus  enter- 
ing the  so-called  scientific  phase  of  mental  activity. 
If  the  first  four  years  of  a  school  course  be  called 
primary,  the  second  four  years  intermediate,  and  the 
next  four  years  higher  or  high-school,  (i)  the  primary 
period  would  be  characterized  by  the  activity  of  the 
mind  in  observing,  imaging,  generalizing,  and  judging, 
and  the  consequent  acquisition  of  the  elements  of 
common  knowledge;  (2)  the  intermediate  period,  by 
increasing  activity  of  the  thought  powers  and  the 
acquisition  of  higher  common  knowledge,  and  the 
simpler  elements  of  science;  and  (3)  the  high-school 
period,  by  more  sharply  analytic  and  discriminating 
scientific  thought.  These  three  periods  might  be 
characterized  respectively  as  sense -conceptivc,  transi- 
tional, and  seientific,  but  even  these  terms  may  seem 
to  imply  sharp  transitions  in  instruction,  and  thus  be 
misleading. 

There  is  no  psychical  warrant  for  the  assumption 
that  primary  instruction  should  be  confined  to  pre- 
sentative  activity  and  knowledge,  and  all  Erroneous 
general  and  scientific  knowledge  postponed  Assumption, 
to  the  high  school.  If  in  the  development  of  the 
mind  there  be  a  period  of  exclusive  sense  activity,  it 


I  I O  ELEMEN  TS  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 

antedates  the  primary  school,  lying  very  near  the 
cradle,  certainly  not  above  the  lower  kindergarten,  if 
above  the  nursery.  If  the  term  science  be  used  in  the 
high  sense  of  philosophy  (p.  82),  the  scientific  period 
of  education  falls  largely  in  the  college  and  the  univer- 
sity. The  long  interval  between  these  two  extremes 
is  the  period  of  school  education,  now  under  consid- 
eration, and  throughout  this  transitional  period  the 
mind  is  increasingly  passing  from  sense-knowledge  to 
thought- knowledge. 

Nor  is  it  possible  to  make  a  clean  distinction  between 

the    periods    of    elementary    knowledge    and    scientific 

knowledge,  and  arrange  a  course  of  instruc- 

Elementary  o     '  & 

and  Scientific  tiou  on  this  basis.  It  is  not  only  true  that 
now  e  ge.  pgi-^eptive  knowledge  must  have  a  consid- 
erable place  in  all  grades  of  school  instruction,  but 
scientific  knowledge  must  necessarily  appear  early  in 
the  intermediate  course.  It  is  not  possible  to  draw 
a  line  through  any  branch  of  knowledge,  as  developed 
by  the  race  or  the  individual,  and  say  here  elementary 
knowledge  ends  and  science  begins.  Every  branch 
of  science  includes  not  only  primary  concepts  and 
ideas,  its  simple  elements,  but  also  those  general  facts 
of  judgment  and  induction  which  are  the  basis  of  its 
higher  generalizations,  and  it  is  neither  possible  nor 
wise  to  hold  the  mind  back  from  these  simple  general- 
izations until  the  so-called  scientific  period  is  reached. 

In    that   educational    classic,    "The   True    Order   of 

Studies,"  Dr.  Thomas  Hill  compares  a  true  course  of 

Dr.  Hill's      study  to  a  spiral  stairway,  surrounding  the 

niustration.    fj^^g  great  columns   of   human    knowledge, 

and    cutting  off  a  section  of  each  at   every  round  of 


PRINCIPLES.  1 1  I 

its  ascent.  This  famous  simile  clearly  recognizes  the 
important  fact  that  there  is  a  natural  sequence  of 
knowledge  to  be  observed  in  teaching,  and,  rightly 
understood,  it  also  indicates  that  this  sequence  is  lat- 
eral as  well  as  vertical.  A  true  course  of  study  not 
only  cuts  off  a  section  of  all  the  great  branches  of 
knowledge  each  year,  but  each  section  includes  pre- 
sentat.ive,  representative,  and  thought  knowledge  and 
activity.  In  its  progress  through  each  annual  cycle 
of  its  ascent  school  instruction  passes  from  sense- 
knowledge  to  thought- knowledge — the  natural  move- 
ment of  the  mind  in  all  stages  of  its  activity  being 
from  sense  to  reason. 

The  diagram  on  page  1 1 2  indicates  the  relative  at- 
tention to  be  given  the  different  kinds   of 

Diagram. 

knowledge  in  the  successive  years  of  school 
instruction,  and  also  in  the  primary,   intermediate,  and 
high -school  periods,  or  grades. 

Principle  IV. 

Kuoii'lcdgc  can  be  taught  only  by  occasioni)ig  the  appro- 
priate  activity  of  the  learner's  mind. 

This  principle  is  based  on  the  fact  that  knowledge 
is  the  product  of  the  mind's  action.  Knowing  is  an 
act  or  series  of  acts  ;  knowledge  the  result.  The  mind 
acquires  knowledge  only  by  its  oivu  activity.  It  acquires 
sense-knowledge  by  sense  activity,  and  thought-knowl- 
edge by  thought  activity. 

The  mind  is  not  only  active  in  knowing,  but  it  is 
self-active.  It  acquires  knowledge  only  by  putting 
forth  an  inner  energy.  It  is  not  a  vessel  that  can  be 
filled  from  without,  or  a  sponge  that  can  be  filled  by 


112 


ELEMENTS  OE  PEDAGOGY, 


Course  of  Instruction. 


Knowledge. 

I.   Presentative. 
2  2' .   Representative 
3  2/  l''-  thought. 


PRINCIPLES.  I  I  3 

mechanical  absorption.      It  is  an  energy  that  furnishes 
itself  by  its  own  activity. 

It  follows  from  these  facts  that  knowledge  can  be 
taught  only  by  occasioning  the  appropriate  activity  of 
the  learner's  mind.  It  can  not  be  transferred  from 
the  teacher's  mind  to  the  pupil's  by  words.  It  can 
not  be  communicated  to  the  pupil  in  any  way  if  his 
mind  be  passive.  The  essential  act  in  acquiring  knowl- 
edge is  the  act  of  learning,  and  this  is  the  pupil's  act. 
The  teacher  may  present  objects  of  knowledge  to  the 
pupil's  mind,  may  solicit  his  interest,  invite  his  atten- 
tion, and  direct  his  powers,  but  if  his  mind  does  not 
respond  to  these  teaching  acts,  there  will  be  no  learn- 
ing, no  acquiring  of  knowledge.  From  the  beginning 
to  the  end  of  teaching  runs,  as  an  essential  condition, 
the  learner's  activity,  and  hence  that  teaching  is  most 
effective  that  occasions  or  secures  the  best  mental 
action  on  the  part  of  the  pupil.     This  leads  to  — 

Principle  V. 

The  primaiy  concepts  and  ideas  in  every  brancJi  of 
knowledge  must  be  taught  objectively  in  all  grades  of 
school. 

The  psychical  processes  involved  in  sense -perception 
and  other  presentative  acts  show  that  the  forming  of  an 
individual  concept  requires  the  presence  of  the  object, 
and,  since  general  concepts  are  formed  from  individual 
concepts,  it  follows  that  no  concept,  individual  or 
general,  can  be  taught  without  presenting  the  appropriate 
object  or  objects  to  the  mind.  The  same  is  true  in  the 
teaching  of  ideas,  both  particular  and  general. 

The  teaching  of  .general  concepts  when  the  individual 

NV.  P.-io. 


114  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

concepts  to  be  generalized  are  already  in  the  mind, 
may  seem  to  be  an  exception  to  this  principle,  but 
the  exception  is  apparent,  not  real,  since  the  principle 
Apparent  ^s  Stated  is  limited  to  primary  concepts  and 
Exception,  jdeas.  The  primary  concepts  in  this  case 
are  the  individual  concepts,  which  are  generalized,  and 
these  were  acquired  objectively, —by  the  direct  per- 
ception of  the  objects,  whether  material  or  psychical, 
objective  or  subjective.  When  the  mind  is  in  posses- 
sion of,  primary  concepts  and  ideas,  it  can  generalize 
them,  forming  a  general  concept  or  idea,  or  by  imag- 
ination it  can  modify  them  or  construct  from  them  a 
new  product.  The  concept  river  may  thus  be  derived 
from  the  concept  brook  or  creek  ;  the  concept 
mountain,  from  the  like  concept  hill,  etc.  Compound 
concepts  may  be  formed  by  the  synthesis  of  simple 
concepts.  But  the  fact  remains  that  primary  concepts 
and  ideas,  the  dements  of  all  knowledge,  can  only  be 
taught  or  acquired  by  the  presence  of  the  objects.* 


■••■The  fact  that  primary  concepts  are  acquired  objectively,  is  illus- 
trated by  the  late  examinations  into  the  "  contents"  of  young 
children's  minds,  notably  those  conducted  in  Boston  by  Dr.  G. 
Stanley  Hall  [Frmce/on  Review,  May,  1883),  and  by  Supt.  J.  M. 
Greenwood  in  Kansas  City,  Mo.  {^Proceedings  N^ational  Educational 
Association,  1884).  In  comparing  the  results  of  tnese  two  "studies" 
of  children,  allowance  must  be  made  for  the  difference  in  the  ages 
of  the  children,  those  in  Kansas  City  being  about  a  year  older  than 
those  in  Boston  (a  great  difference),  and  liaving  had  nearly  a  year's 
schooling;  and  also  for  the  probable  difference  in  the  tests,  especially 
the  language  used.  The  most  significant  fact  that  remains  is  that  the 
difference  in  the  knowledge  of  the  two  classes  of  children  is  chiefly 
due  to  a  difference  of  observation  and  experience.  The  Boston  children 
were  ignorant  of  "crow,"  "ant,"  "squirrel,"  "robin,"  "sheep," 
"bee,"  "  frog,"  and  other  like  objects,  because  they  had  not  seen  them, 
and  the  Kansas  City  children,  especially  the  negro  children,  were 
not  ignorant  of  these  objects  because  they  had  seen  them. 


PRIiVCIPLES.  I  I  5 

It  follows  from  the  above  principle  that  ?io  pnmary 
concept  or  idea  can  be  tang  J  it  through  its  zvord.  Every 
concept  or  idea  is  the  product  of  the  mind's  concepts 
own  action.  A  word  may  occasion  the  re-  ^"^  words, 
call  of  a  known  concept  or  idea  associated  with  it,  but 
a  word  can  not  summon  a  ncxv  concept  or  idea  into 
what  has  been  called  "the  presence  chamber  of  the 
soul."  The  futile  attempt  to  teach  concepts  and  ideas 
through  words  is  responsible  for  more  unsatisfactory 
results  than  any  other  error  of  elementary  instruction. 
Carlyle  characterizes  his  teachers  as  "hide-bound  ped- 
ants" who  crammed  him  "with  innumerable  dead 
vocables,  and  called  it  fostering  the  growth  of  the 
mind."  Carlyle's  pedants  once  represented  a  very 
large  class  of  teachers,  and  it  is  feared  that  this  race 
of  word-cramming  pedants  is  not  yet  extinct. 

The  maxim,  "Ideas  before  words,"  may  not  be  a 
necessary  principle,  even  of  primary  instruction,  but  it 
is  excellent  advice.      The  essential  thing  is 

—  _  ^  Maxim. 

to  teach  ooth  the  idea  and  its  sign,  and 
especially  to  connect  them  indissolubly  together,  and, 
to  make  tins  connection  sure,  it  is  wise  to  teach  the  idea 
before  the  word,  whenever  this  can  be  done.  The 
facility  with  which  children  learn  words,  especially  as 
sounds,  is  constantly  giving  them  new  words  which  to 
them  have  no  meaning.  It  is  the  teacher's  imperative 
duty  to  see  that  these  empty  words  are  filled  with 
their  ideas,  and  especially  that  all  new  words,  learned 
and  used  in  school,  are  associated  with  clear  ideas.  To 
this  end,  not  only  all  primary  concepts,  but  all  con- 
cepts that  involve  primary  concepts  which  are  dim  or 
blurred,  should  be  taught  objectively. 


Il6  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

It  is  true  that  a  general  word  may  at  first  represent 
an  individual  concept.  A  child  sees  a  strange  animal, 
a  monkey  for  example,  and  learns  its  name.  The 
word  is  associated  with  the  individual  monkey  seen, 
and  recalls  it  in  memory.  When,  however,  the  child 
has  seen  several  monkeys,  the  resulting  individual 
concepts  are  unconsciously  generalized,  and  the  word 
monkey  comes  to  represent  all  the  like  objects  seen, 
if  not  the  class.  It  is  believed  that  children  learn 
most  of  their  words  in  this  way,  learning  and  using 
the  word  before  they  form  the  general  concept.  The 
words  father,  mother,  brother,  sister,  baby,  kitty,  etc., 
are  at  first  names  of  individual  objects.  It  is  also  true 
that  children  frequently  use  proper  or  individual  names 
to  denote  classes  of  objects.  A  little  child  that  has 
seen  "Jumbo"  calls  every  elephant  which  he  sees 
"Jumbo." 

This    principle   of  objective  teaching   applies    to  all 

grades  of  schools  —  to  the  high  school  and  college  as 

^^.    ,.         well   as   to  the   primary  school.      It  is  in- 

Objective  ^  ■' 

Teaching  of  crcasingly  recognized  in  the  teaching  of  the 
physical  sciences.  No  school  of  science, 
worthy  of  its  name,  now  puts  its  students  to  the  study 
of  text-books  in  botany  or  chemistry,  or  other  natural 
or  physical  science,  before  they  have  acquired  its  pri- 
mary concepts  and  facts  by  the  study  of  objects  and 
phenomena.  This  is  the  meaning  of  the  modern  lab- 
oratory and  museum.  They  afford  needed  facilities 
for  the  study  of  things  as  a  preparation  for  the  study 
of  books  which  embody  the  results  of  wider  observa- 
tion and  research.  When  the  concepts  and  ideas 
which   scientific  words   represent,    are    thus  objectively 


PRINCIPLES.  117 

learned,  books  become  important  means  of  acquiring 
scientific  knowledge,  but,  in  acquiring  the  elements 
of  knowledge,  books  can  not  take  the  place  of  things. 


It  follows  from  principles  IV  and  V  that  knowledge 
can  be  presented  to  the  mind  by  means  of  language  only 
zvJien   the  words  tised  represent  known    con-    „ 

■f  Communica- 

cepts  ajid  ideas.      The  sentence,    ' '  There  is        tion  of 

1      •  ),  ,  ,    ,•  Knowledge. 

an  eagle  m  my  purse,  presents  no  relation 
or  fact  to  the  mind,  if  the  words  "eagle  "  and  "purse  " 
do  not  express  known  objects.  When  all  its  words 
represent  known  concepts  and  ideas,  the  sentence 
presents  a  fact  to  the  mind  in  such  a  way  as  to  occa- 
sion thinking,  and  the  fact  is  thus  known.*  This  is 
what  is  meant  by  the  conimnnication  of  knowledge.  The 
words  recall  known  concepts  and  ideas,  the  relation 
between   the   objects  of  knowledge  thus  presented  is 


■*It  seems  to  the  writer  a  mere  word  quibble  to  deny  that  a  fact 
thus  presented  and  apprehended  is  known.  To  know  an  object  is 
to  be  certain  tliat  it  is,  and  the  mind  may  be  as  certain  of  a  rela- 
tion thus  apprehended  as  it  is  of  phenomena  perceived  by  the  senses. 
The  fact  expressed  in  the  sentence,  "  A  piece  of  iron  is  heavier  than 
a  piece  of  pine  wood  of  the  same  size  "  may  be  as  certainly  appre- 
hended, when  stated,  as  it  would  be  were  the  fact  objectively  pre- 
sented to  the  mind. 

Nor  is  it  true  that  while  the  mind  knows  the  expressed  relation, 
it  does  not  know  it  to  be  real.  The  relation  between  known  objects 
may  be  a  necessity  of  thought  or  of  nature,  and,  even  when  this  is 
not  true,  its  reality  may  be  accepted  by  the  mind  as  certain.  The 
fact  that  six  apples  are  more  than  three  apples  may  be  known  as 
certainly  when  presented  by  words  expressing  known  concepts  as 
when  presented  objectively.  It  is  not  claimed  that  relations  pre- 
sented to  the  mind  by  language  are  always  real  or  are  always  known 
to  be  real.  Much  of  what  is  called  knowledge  is  only  probable 
truth  —  information  the  certainty  of  which  is  not  fully  accepted  or 
known. 


I  1 8  ELEMENTS  OE^  PEDAGOGY. 

apprehended  or  thought,  and  this  completes  the  com- 
munication of  the  knowledge  to  the  learner's  mind. 
In  this  process  neither  the  act  of  knowing  nor  its  prod- 
uct is  transferred ;  they  are  occasioned,  and,  as  a  result, 
the  knowledge  of  one  mind  is  reproduced  by  and  in 
another  mind,  and  it  is  thus  communicated  or  known 
in  common.  Knowledge  presented  to  the  mind  by 
language  and  thus  known  is  called  acquired  knowledge, 
to  distinguish  it  from  original  knowledge.  When 
Acquired  knowlcdgc  that  is  original  to  one  mind  is 
Knowledge,  communicatcd  to  another  mind,  it  becomes 
to  such  mind  acquired  knowledge. 

It  may  be  added  that  only  a  small  part  of  the 
knowledge  which  every  intelligent  person  uses  for  guid- 
ance, growth,  and  enjoyment,  is  original  except  in  its 
primary  elements.  We  are  largely  indebted  to  the 
experience  and  thought  ol  others,  and  these  are  made 
known  to  us  by  means  of  language.  The  function  of 
language  is  not  merely  to  recall  knowledge  to  the 
mind  that  has  discerned  it,  but  to  communicate  it  to 
other  minds  —  a  function  illustrated  in  every  nursery 
where  children  try  to  tell  what  they  feel  and  know. 
Speech  is  one  of  man's  highest  and  best  endowments. 

It  follows  that  it  is  an  important  end  of  school 
•education  to  train  the  pupil  to  apprehend  thought 
study  ct  expressed  in  language  —  to  read  intelligently 
Books.  ^^i^g  printed  page.  Books  contain  the  re- 
corded knowledge  of  the  race,  and  it  is  only  by  reading 
books  that  man  can  come  into  possession  of  this  rich 
inheritance.  The  ability  to  read  is  the  key  that  un- 
locks the  treasuries  of  human  knowledge.  It  is  thus 
seen  that  there  is  an  important  place  in  school  training 


PRINCIPLES.  119 

for  the  study  of  books.  The  proper  union  of  oral 
teaching  and  book  study  in  school  education  is  a 
problem  of  the  highest  practical  importance  (p.  152). 

Principle  VI. 

TJie  several  powers  of  the  mind  are  dei'eloped  and 
trained  by  occasioning  their  natural  and  harvionions 
activity. 

This  principle  is  based  on  the  fact  that  every  nor- 
mal act  of  the  mind  leaves  as  a  result  an  increased 
power  to  act  in  like  manner,  and  a  tendency  to  act 
again — pozuer  and  tendency  bei)ig  the  results  of  all  rigJit 
mental  action  (p.  31).  The  power  and  tendency  of 
the  mind  to  observe  are  increased  by  observing ;  to 
imagine  by  imagifiing;  to  judge,  by  judging;  to  rea- 
son, by  reasoning,  etc.  An  increase  of  the  mind's 
power  and  tendency  to  put  forth  a  given  activity  is 
what  is  meant  by  its  development  and  training. 

It  follows  that  the  power  of  the  mind  to  put  forth 
any  kind  of  activity  is  developed  and  trained  by  occa- 
sioning such  activity.  The  power  to  acquire  sense 
knowledge  is  developed  by  acquiring  sense  knowledge; 
the  power  to  memorize  language,  by  memorizing  lan- 
guage ;  the  power  to  think  in  any  form,  by  such 
thinking.  •For  this  reason,  the  study  of  any  branch 
of  physical  science  increases  one's  power  to  master 
any  other  physical  science ;  the  study  of  any  language, 
one's  power  to  master  any  other  language,  etc.  This 
fact  also  explains  why  the  study  of  a  branch  of 
knowledge  that  trains  several  powers  of  the  mind, 
may  increase  its  capacity  to  master  other  branches 
that   appeal   to   these    powers.      The    critical    stutly  of 


1 20  ELEMENTS  OE  FED  A  GOGY. 

language,  for  example,  calls  into  exercise  mental  pow- 
ers that  are  much  used  even  in  the  mastery  of  botany, 
zoology,  and  other  natural  sciences.* 

It  is  claimed  that  an  increase  of  the  mind's  power 
to  acquire  one  kind  of  knowledge  increases  its  power 
to  acquire  all  knowledge.  This  may  be  true,  to  some 
extent,  but  the  exclusive  activity  of  the  mind  in  one 
direction  may  so  increase  its  tendency  thus  to  act  as 
practically  to  incapacitate  it  to  act  in  other  directions, 
the  tendency  becoming  a  habit. 

The  above   facts  show  that  a  course  of  elementary 

training   should    include    all   the    departments    of  ele- 

Eiementary    mcntary  knowledge,   in  order  to  give  the 

Course.  mind  a  harmonious  development,  thus  pre- 
paring it  to  acquire  all  kinds  of  knowledge,  and  also 
to  resist  the  narrowing  and  grooving  tendency  of 
future  occupations.  A  course  of  school  training  should 
at  least  include  the  elements  of  physical  science, 
language,  mathematics,  history  (man),  and  art. 

In  all   this  training,   it   must  be  kept  in   mind  that 

the   teacher  can    only  occasion  and   direct   the   pupil's 

Pupil's        activity.     The  human  soul  is  not  a  machine 

Activity.       ^|-,^|.   ^^^   i^g   py|.   jj^^Q  action   by  turning  a 

crank.  Its  activity  is  the  result  of  a  self- exerted 
energy  (p.  iii).  Even  nature  can  not  necessitate  the 
mind's  action.      She  stands  over  against  the  soul,  pre- 


*The  late  Dr.  C.  O.  Thompson,  of  the  Rose  Polylechnic  Institute, 
Indiana,  gave  it  as  the  result  of  his  long  experience  as  a  teacher 
in  polytechnic  schools,  that  students  who  have  been  thoroughly 
trained  in  Latin  master  the  sciences  and  technical  studies  more 
readily  than  students  who  have  not  had  such  training. — Proceedings 
of  Council  0/  Education,    1884,   p.   41, 


PRINCIPLES.  121 

senting  objects  adapted  to  the  activity  of  its  powers, 
inviting  its  attention,  and  rewarding  its  action,  but  the 
soul  attends  to  these  various  objects  at  will,  directs 
its  activities,  and  rejoices  in  its  acquisitions.  It  must 
not,  however,  be  inferred  that  nature  does  hot  play 
an  important  part  in  securing  the  activity  and  devel- 
opment of  the  mind.  The  occasion  of  an  act  conditons 
its  existence,  even  though  it  may  not  necessitate  it. 

Nor  is  it  to  be  inferred  from  these  facts  that  the 
child  is  capable  of  teaching  himself,  only  needing  an 
opportunity  for  his  self-activity  to  manifest  seif- 

itself.      Under    self- teaching    and    nature's      teaching. 
teaching  man  remains  a  savage.     Both  the  family  and 

)         the    school    assume    that   'the    child    needs    something 

^y     more  than  the  self-impulsion  and  guidance  of  instinct, 

*"^  nature,  and  experience,  in  mental  activity  and  conduct; 

"U,  and  so  each  provides  him  with  the  assistance  of  wider 
^  '  experience  and  knowledge,  and  the  help  of  personal 
influence  and  control.  The  school  recognizes  the  fact 
that  the  child  does  not  learn  to  think  by  mere  thinking, 
but  that  he  learns  to  think  correctly  by  thinking  undef 
guidance.  It  neither  assumes  that  teaching  can  take 
the  place  of  learning,  nor  that  the  best  learning  will 
take  place  without  teaching.  The  school  joins  teach- 
ing and  learning  together  as  correlates,  the  one  as  the 
occasion  and  the  other  as  the  cause  of  the  desired 
results — mental  power  and  knowledge.  Nor  are  these 
assumptions  of  the  school  inconsistent  with  the  fact 
that  the  powers  of  the  mind  arc  developed  and  trained 
by  activity,  this  activity  being  self-exerted.  This 
statement  leaves  a  place  and  function  for  teaching, 
while  the  statement  that  we  learn  to  do  by  doing 
excludes  the  idea  of  teaching. 

W.  P.-ii. 


1 2  2  ELEMENTS  OF  FED  AGOG  Y. 

The  question  is  sometimes  raised  whether  knowl- 
edge or  mental  power  should  be  made  the  leading  aim 
Application  of  of  teaching    effort.      It   is   not   easy  to   see 

Principle,  j-^q^  thesc  two  results  can  well  be  put  in 
contrast*  if  power  be  limited  to  the  capacity  to  acquire 
knowledge,  since  the  power  to  know  can  only  be  de- 
veloped by  knowing.  In  all  training  of  the  mind  in 
acquiring  knowledge,  the  result  is  knowledge,  as  well 
as  increased  power.  This  raises  the  suspicion  that 
those  who  pride  themselves  on  the  training  side  of 
their  teaching  and  yet  have  indefinite  knowledge  as  a 
result,  may  be  deceived.  Effective  training  in  acquir- 
ing knowledge  of  any  kind  must  give  clear  knowledge 
as  a  result. 

A  satisfactory  answer  to  the  above  question  requires 
that  a  distinction  be  made  between  the  training  of  the 
mind  in  mental  processes,  luhcre  skill  is  an  end,  and 
the  training  of  the  mind  in  the  acquisition  of  knowl- 
edge. A  pupil  may,  for  example,  acquire  increased 
skill  in  analytic  reasoning  by  repeating  the  solution  of 
an  arithmetical  problem  several  times,  though  the 
several  repetitions  give  him  no  new  knowledge.  It  is 
clear  that  in  such  a  drill  the  value  of  the  repetitions 
lessens  as  the  effort  involved  decreases,  and  this  fact 
suggests  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  overdriil  in 
teaching  (p.  145).  The  chief  value  of  the  mental  drill 
as  such  is  in  the  acquiring  of  those  processes  which 
need  to  be  made  automatic,  as  is  true  of  elementary 
processes  in  number,  language,  etc.,  and  the  fixing 
of  fudamental  results  in  memory,  as  the  sums  and 
products  of  the  digital  numbers,  two  and  two.  It 
should  be  kept  in  mind  in  teaching  that  the  power  to 
observe  is  best  trained  by  observing  new  phenomena  j 


PRINCirLES.  123 

/.  ^.,  new  to  the  observer;  the  power  to  imagine  by 
constructing  or  creating  new  images ;  the  power  to 
judge  by  discerning  new  relations;  and  the  power  to 
reason  by  newly  reaching,  proving,  or  applying  truth. 
When  the  knowledge  is  clear  and  the  process  certain, 
repetition  is  futile  if  not  harmful. 

But  the  question  above  raised  is  broader  and  deeper 
than  the  answers  thus  indicated.      It  touches  the  com- 
parative   value    of   knowledge    and    mental        Mental 
power  as  abiding  Tcsidts  of  school  training  in    Power  chief 
practical  life ;  and  from  this  stand-point  it  ""' 

is  clear  that  the  developing  of  power  should  be  made 
the  leading  aim  of  teaching.  Knowledge  is  necessary 
to  enlighten  and  guide  in  all  human  effort,  but  mental 
power  gives  acumen,  grasp,  strength,  poise,  inspiration, 
and  these  are  the  winners  of  success  in  all  the  duties 
of  practical  life.  Even  so-called  practical  knowledge, 
to  be  of  highest  utility  for  guidance,  must  be  thought 
out  and  applied  by  an  intelligent  mind.  If  my  mind 
were  a  tablet,  and  with  a  sponge  I  should  erase  every 
fact  learned  in  school  and  college,  and  not  directly 
applied  in  the  arts  there  acquired,  I  should  not  be 
very  poor,  but  were  I  to  lose  the  mental  power  gained 
by  the  mastery  of  these  facts,  so  many  of  which  were 
long  since  forgotten,   I  should  be  poor  indeed. 

This  broader  view  of  education  shows  that  mental 
power  is  not  only  the  most  abiding,  but  the  most 
practical  result  of  school  training.  It  jus-  Act  and 
tifies  the  statement  that  in  teaching  the  act  Acquisition, 
of  acquiring  knowledge  is  more  important  than  the 
knowledge  acquired.  It  was  a  clear  apprehension  of 
this  principle  that  caused  the  learned  Lcssing  to  choose 


124 


ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 


the  search  for  truth  rather  than  its  possession,  ana  this 
is  the  deep  meaning  of  the  remarkable  saying  of 
Malebranche :  "If  truth  were  a  bird  and  I  held  it  cap- 
tive, I  would  open  my  hand  and  let  it  fly  away  that 
I  might  again  pursue  and  capture  it."* 

This  important  principle  is  embodied  in  the  follow- 
ing maxim  of  elementary  teaching : 

Whatever  knozvledgc  is  taught  a  child  should  be  so 
taught  that  the  act  of  acqidring  it  shall  be  of  greater 
value  than  the  kuoivlcdge  itself. 

Principle  VII. 

In  the  teaching  of  any  school  art,  clear  and  correct 
ideals  should  inspwe  and  guide  practice. 

The  first  step  in  learning  any  art  is  the  forming  of 
ideals  of  the  results  to  be  attained,  and,  as  a  rule, 
the  clearer  and  more  correct  the  ideals  formed,  the 
better  will  be  the  results  reached  by  practice.  This 
is  not  only  true  in  the  practice  of  such  simple  arts  as 
the  pitching  of  a  quoit  or  ball,  the  drawing  of  a  plain 
figure,  etc.,  but  also  in  the  liigher  arts  of  oratory, 
music,  painting,  sculpture,  architecture,  etc.  In  all 
art,  ideals  inspire  effort  and  largely  determine  move- 
ment and  process ;  and,  since  the  imagination  is  de- 
pendent upon  observation  and  experience  for  the  ma- 
terials with  which  it  constructs  its  ideals,  the  wider 
the  learner's  observation  of  the  work  and  productions 
of  skillful  artists,  and  the  greater  his  own  experience 
and  skill,  the  better  will  be  his  guiding  ideals,  and  the 
more  fruitful  his  practice. 

*  Quoted  from  memory. 


PRINCIPLES.  125 

It  follows  that  the  first  step  in  teaching  any  art  is 
to  lead  the  pupil  to  form  coj'rcct  ideals  of  what  he  is 
to  do  or  produce,  and,  to  this  end,  he  should        ,^    , 

-f  Ideals. 

be  presented  with  the  best  models  and  ex- 
amples— as  far  as  practicable  with  the  ' '  works  of  the 
masters."  This  is  not  only  true  in  teaching  the  form- 
ative arts,  as  drawing,  painting,  sculpture,  and  the 
mechanic  arts  generally,  but  also  in  teaching  oratory, 
music,  and  literature.  Jenny  Lind  gave  to  her  gen- 
eration a  new  ideal  of  human  song,  and  that  ideal 
has  awakened  in  many  human  voices  an  almost  divine 
melody,  Wendell  Phillips  and  John  B.  Gough  have 
respectively  given  to  hundreds  of  American  speakers 
their  inspiring  ideals  of  oratory. 

The  next  step  in  teaching  any  art  is  to  give  the 
pupil  a  knozvledgc  of  the  processes  by  which  his  ideals 
can  best  be  embodied.  It  is  true  that  this  Guiding 
knowledge  may  be  slowly  gained  by  tenta-  Knowledge, 
tive  practice,  but  since  it  is  not  an  end  but  a  means 
of  practice,  the  earlier  it  is  acquired  the  sooner  will 
the  pupil  master  art  processes.  It  is  true  that  this 
guiding  knowledge  can  not  be  acquired  much  in  ad- 
vance of  practice,  since  practice  not  only  applies  but 
indirectly  interprets  and  makes  clearer  the  knowledge 
that  guides  it. 

These  facts  expose  the  fallacy  that  often  underlies 
the  attempt  to  teach  knowledge  by  the  act  of  embody- 
ing it  in  material  forms.  It  is  claimed,  for  example, 
that  a  child  acquires  an  idea  of  a  triangle,  a  square, 
etc.,  by  cutting  pieces  of  paper  or  by  sawing  boards 
into  such  forms,  whereas  the  child  must  have  ideas 
of  these  forms  before  he  can  make  them,  except  by 
pattern.     The  ideal  must  precede  and  guide  the  proc- 


1 26  ELEMENTS  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 

ess.  The  same  is  true  of  the  educative  value  of  the 
school  process  of  molding  the  contours  and  reliefs  of 
countries  in  sand.  A  knowledge  of  the  contour  and 
relief  must  precede  and  guide  the  moulding,  and  even 
then  the  child  may  obtain  a  very  imperfect  conception 
of  the  surface  of  the  country  thus  represented.  The 
I  mind  must  be  assisted  and  trained  in  the  interpreta- 
tion of  these  forms.  The  artisans  who  devote  their 
time  to  the  making  of  relief  globes  and  maps  by  pat- 
tern, acquire  thus  little  knowledge  of  geography. 

But  the  processes  of  every  art  are  based  on  pHnci- 

plcs,   and   these,   when    formulated,    become   its  rules, 

and  hence  a  complete  knowledge  of  an  art 

Principles.  ^  ... 

includes  a  knowledge  of  its  guiding  prin- 
ciples. These  principles  are  of  little,  if  any,  value  to 
the  young  learner,  and  hence  should  not  be  taught 
too  early,  and,  when  taught,  they  should  be  first 
reached,  one  by  one,  by  an  analysis  of  familiar  proc- 
•  esses  and  by  the  study  of  the  productions  that  embody 
them — that  is,  they  should  be  taught  objectively.  In 
the  later  and  higher  practice  of  an  art,  a  knowledge 
of  its  guiding  principles  is  of  great  value,  and  these 
may  finally  take  the  place  of  the  living  teacher.  It 
may  be  added  that  the  principles  and  rules  of  an  art 
are  most  helpful  in  practice  when  they  are  so  familiar 
to  the  artist  as  to  be  observed  without  being  con- 
sciously kept  in  mind.  It  is  only  when  ideals  and 
principles  become  unconscious  guides  that  true  art 
appears. 

This  principle  explains  the  interaction  of  mind  and 
hand  in  manual  processes,  and  shows  how  the  hand 
assists   the  mind    that  guides   it.     The  movements  of 


PRINCIPLES.  1 27 

the  hand  have  a  reflex  influence  on  the  mind,  provided 
the  mind  attends  to  and  gindes  the  hand.  When  the 
action  of  the  hand  or  any  other  part  or  Mind  and 
organ  of  the  body  is  involuntary  and  auto-  Hand, 
matic,  it  has  httle,  if  any,  influence  on  the  mind.  It 
is  only  when  it  controls  and  acts  with  the  body,  that 
the  mind  is  developed  and  trained.  The  educative  in- 
fluence does  not  flow  primarily  from  the  hand  to  the 
brain,  but  from  the  mind  to  the  brain,  and  from  the 
brain  to  the  hand,  and  it  is  only  by  reflex  action  that 
the  mind  is  assisted.  This  fact  throws  much  light  on 
the  historic  fact  that  mere  physical  labor  has  never 
uplifted  and  educated  any  people,  either  intellectually 
or  morally.  The  slaves,  the  serfs,  and  the  coolies  of 
the  world  have  never  been  greatly  improved  in  intel- 
ligence or  character  by  labor,  a  fact  that  is  in  the  face 
of  some  of  the  recent  assumptions  in  the  discussion 
of  the  question  of  manual  training. 

It  is  thus  seen  that  the  so-called  Comenian  maxim, 
"We  learn  to  do  by  doing,"  is,  even  when  applied 
to  outer  doing,  only  a  half  truth.  Simple  comenian 
doing,  without  the  guidance  of  knowledge,  Maxim, 
never  made  an  artist  or  an  artisan.  The  poorest 
teaching,  for  example,  is  often  done  by  teachers  who 
have  grown  gray  in  the  school -room.  What  is  needed 
to  transmute  experience  into  teaching  skill  and  power, 
is  the  inspiration  of  true  ideals  and  the  guidance  of 
correct  principles.  Blind  experience  is  always  and 
everywhere  a  plodder. 

The  arts  taught  in  elementary  schools,  as  reading, 
writing,  language,  music,  etc. ,  are  never  properly 
mastered  by  mere  practice.      Even  the  mastery  of  the 


1 28  ELEMENTS  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 

two  form  arts,  writing,  and  drawing,  requires  some- 
thing more  than  the  mechanical  imitation  of  model 
Teaching  copics  for  a  given  number  of  minutes  each 
School  Arts,  ^^y _  'p^g  tcachcr's  work  is  to  lead  the 
pupil  to  form  clear  ideals  of  results,  to  teach  him  the 
best  processes  for  attaining  these  results,  and  then  to 
secure  necessary  practice  under  the  most  inspiring 
guidance.  Automatic  exercises  may  increase  the 
mechanical  facility  with  which  pupils  repeat  known 
processes,  but  such  practice  never  corrects  errors  or 
suggests  improved  methods  or  processes.  They  beget 
the  habit  of  non -attention  to  the  conditions  of  right 
activity,  and  create  mental  tendencies  which  are  sub- 
versive of  both  teaching  and  learning. 

On  the  other  hand,  no  mistake  in  elementary  teach- 
ing is  more  absurd  or  futile  than  the  attempt  to  teach 

Practice  a  school  art  by  simply  imparting  a  the- 
Essentiai.  orctical  knowledge  of  its  principles  and 
processes.  The  mastery  of  an  art  involves  tJie  acqui- 
sition of  skill,  and  a  knowledge  of  the  art  is  chiefly 
valuable  as  a  means  to  this  end.  Instruction  without 
practice  can  not  impart  skill,  and  hence  can  not  make 
an  artist. 

The  old-time  attempt  to  teach  the  art  of  using  good 
English,   by  means  of  technical  grammar,   is  an  illus- 
tration   of  this    error.     This    attempt   was 

niustration.  ^ 

based  on  the  false  notion  that  skill  in 
speech  and  writing  is  a  necessary  result  of  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  rules  of  language — an  error  still  too  com- 
mon in  American  schools,  and  especially  in  elementary 
schools  whose  pupils  are  too  young  to  apprehend  or 
apply  abstract  principles  in  any  art. 


PRINCIPLES.  1 29 

The  stupid  custom  of  teaching  formal  analysis  and 
parsing  before  practical  composition  richly  deserves 
the  ridicule  now  heaped  upon  it,  but  is  Language 
there  not  evidence  of  a  tendency  to  the  Lessons, 
opposite  extreme  ?  It  now  looks  as  if  there  would 
soon  be  an  opportunity  to  laugh  at  the  equally  futile 
attempt  to  teach  the  art  of  correct  speech  by  haphaz- 
ard, cut-feed  language  lessons,  some  of  which  are 
about  as  mechanical  as  the  filling  of  a  basket  with 
chips,  and  result  in  about  the  same  kind  of  skill.  The 
function  of  language  is  to  express  thought,  and  no  exer- 
cise in  the  use  of  language  can  impart  much  skill  that 
does  not  begin  with  the  awakening  of  thought  and 
end  with  its  correct  expression. 

What  is  needed  to  impart  skill  in  the  use  of  lan- 
guage is  a  training  that  begins  with  the  correct  use 
of  language  in  speech  and  in  writing,  and  English 
ends  with  its  scientific  study,  and  in  such  Grammar. 
a  course  there  is  a  place  not  only  for  oral  and  written 
composition,  but  also  for  technical  grammar  and  rhet- 
oric— a  place  where  a  knowledge  of  the  principles  of 
language  aids  in  its  use.  For  one,  I  gratefully  ac- 
knowledge my  indebtedness  to  Lindley  Murray  for 
some  of  the  little  skill  which  I  have  acquired  in  the 
use  of  the  English  language,  and  especially  am  I  in- 
debted to  what  has  been  characterized  as  the  "gram- 
matical dissection"  of  good  English.  The  thorough 
grammatical  analysis  of  Pollok's  Course  of  Time, 
Pope's  Essay  on  Man,  and  Milton's  Paradise  Lost, 
and,  later,  the  rhetorical  analysis  of  Goldsmith's  De- 
serted Village,  and  Shakespeare's  Macbeth  and  Julius 
CcTesar,  gave  me  guiding  ideals  of  correct,  forcible, 
and   elegant    English.      It    is,    however,    important    to 


130  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

note  that  these  were  not  the  studies  of  early  child- 
hood, and  that  manhood  has  afforded  me  some  of 
the  practice  which  was  so  unwisely  denied  in  school 
and  college. 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING. 


('3'  I 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING. 


The  foregoing  principles  clearly  indicate  the  charac- 
teristic features  of  a  general  method  of  teaching.  It 
only  remains  to  develop  and  outline  this  method,  and 
then  apply  it  in  methods  of  teaching  the  several  ele- 
mentary branches. 

PRELIMINARY  DEFINITIONS. 

Attention  has  been  called  to  the  fact  that  educa- 
tional terms  are  used  in  different  senses  by  writers  on 
pedagogy  (p.  12).  This  is  specially  true  Terms 
of  the  terms  instruction,  tcacJiing,  and  cdiica-  Defined. 
tion.  These  terms  are  used  by  some  writers  as  synon- 
ymous, and  by  others  to  denote  acts  and  processes 
which  are  entirely  distinct.  One  of  the  most  critical 
of  recent  writers  defines  teaching  as  the  act  of  present- 
ing objects  and  subjects  of  thought  to  the  pupil's  mind 
as  occasions  of  mental  activity  and  knowledge  ;  instruc- 
tion as  the  pupil's  activity  and  knowledge  occasioned 
by  teaching ;  and  education  as  the  state  of  mind  pro- 
duced by  instruction.  These  definitions  make  teaching 
the  teacher's  act,  instruction  the  pupil's  act,  and 
education  the  result.     The  practical  difficulty  in  using 

these  terms  in  such  radically  distinct  senses  is  the  fact 

(133) 


134  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

that  they  are  imbedded  in  literature  as  nearly  synony- 
mous, being  often  used  as  identical  and  interchangeable, 
and  the  same  is  true  of  the  cognate  terms,  instructor, 
teacher,  and  educator.  The  best  usage  is,  however, 
increasingly  employing  these  terms  in  somewhat  dif- 
ferent senses,  and  every  writer  is  free  to  use  them  in 
such  senses,  within  these  limits,  as  he  may  prefer. 

In  this  work,  the  terms  instniction,  training,  teaching, 
learning,  education,  study,  and  method  are  used  in  the 
senses  indicated  by  the  following  definitions : 

Instruction  is  the  act  of  presenting  objects  and  sub- 
jects of  knowledge  to  the  pupil's  mind  in  such  manner 
as  to  occasion  those  mental  activities  that 

Instruction. 

result  in  knowledge.  Instruction  is  the 
occasion,  the  pupil's  mental  activity  the  cause,  and 
knowledge  the  result. 

Training    is    the    occasioning   and    directing    of   the 

pupil's  activities  in  such  manner  as  to  result  in  power 

and    skill — -mental,    moral,    and    physical. 

Training.  '        .  '  /      •'         . 

Training  involves  doing  or  practice,  with 
power  and  skill  as  ends;  as,  to  train  a  company  of 
soldiers,  to  train  an  artisan,  to  train  a  performer,  etc. 
The  words  training  and  drill  are  nearly  synonymous. 

Teaching   is   the   applying   of  means   to   the    pupil's 
mind  in  such  manner  as  to  occasion  those  mental  ac- 
tivities   that    result    in    knowledge,   power. 

Teaching.  ^  ^  o    '     r  ' 

and  skill,  its  three  immediate  ends.  Teach- 
ing is  the  occasion,  the  pupil's  activity  the  immediate 
cause,  and  knowledge  or  power  or  skill  the  result. 

Teaching  includes  both  instruction  and  training,  in- 
struction being  that  part  of  teaching  that  results  in 
knowledge,    and    training   that   part    which    results    in 


PRELIMINAR  V  DEFINITIONS.  1 3  5 

power  or  skill.  While  these  processes  or  acts  are 
distinguishable  in  thought,  they  are  not  entirely  separa- 
ble in  practice.  Instruction  usually  involves  training, 
and  training  depends  on  instruction,  and  hence  teaching 
is  the  term  that  best  describes  the  complete  process. 

When  the  instruction  element  in  teaching  is  presented 
by  spoken  words,  or  orally,  the  process  is  called  oixil 
teacJiijig;  when  it  is  presented  in  print  or  in  orai 

writing,  the  process  is  called  ivrittcn  tcacJi-      Teaching. 
ing.     The  instruction  imparted  by  the  living  teacher  is 
chiefly  oral. 

Learning  is  the  pupil's  activity  in  acquiring  knowl- 
edge or  skill,  and  this  activity  may  be  occasioned  by 
the  living  teacher,  by  books,  by  nature,  or 
by  other   means.      Learning   is   the  pupil s 
own  act,  and  teaching  is  possible  only  when  it  occasions 
and  is  attended  by  learning  (p.  1 13). 

Education  is  any  process  or  act  which  results  in 
knowledge,  or  power,  or  skill.  It  includes  not  only 
teaching  and   learning,   but  all  acts,    proc- 

o  c"  .  Education. 

esses,  and   influences  which  occasion  these 

results,    whether    as    scholarship,     culture,     habit,     or 

character.  * 

It  is  thus  seen  that  education  is  a  more  comprehen- 
sive term  than  teaching,  and  teaching  more  comprehen- 
sive than  instruction.  There  is  a  like  but  not  strictly 
parallel  difference  in  the  cognate  terms  educator,  teach- 
er,  and  instructor.     The  best  usage  applies  the  term 


*The  attempt  to  limit  education  to  the  drawing  forth  or  develop- 
ing of  the  mental  powers  (its  root  meaning)  has  not  been  successful. 
It  includes  not  only  this  radical  act,  but  all  activities  and  influences 
which  result  in  human  power,  skill,  and  knowledge. 


1 36  ELEMENTS  OF  FED  AGOG  Y. 

educator  to  a  person  who  is  practically  versed  in  the 
science  and  art  of  education.  A  teacher  may  or  may 
not  be  an  educator,  and  an  educator  may  or  may  not 
be  a  teacher.  A  superintendent  may  be  an  educator, 
and  the  term  may  also  be  applied  to  an  author  or 
writer  on  education.  The  terms  teacher  and  instructor 
are  often  used  as  synonymous  and  identical,  but  the 
tendency  is  to  apply  the  term  instructor  to  one  who 
teaches  knowledge,  thus  making  it  less  comprehensive 
than  teacher.* 

The  term  education  is  also  used  to  denote  the  result 
of  educational  activities  and  influences.  This  is  the 
sense  in  which  the  term  is  used  in  such  expressions, 
as  "a  good  education  for  business,"  "a  gentleman  of 
liberal  education,"  etc.  When  the  learner's  activities 
Self  are    prompted    by    subjective    cravings    or 

Education,  motivcs,  and  are  directed  by  himself,  the 
result  is  called  sclf-cditcatioii.  There  is  an  element  of 
self-education  in  all  education  that  is  characterized  by 
mental  vigor.  Learning  is  not  only  the  learner's  own 
act,  but  the  most  fruitful  learning  is  self-impelled  and 
self-directed. 

Study  is  the  attentive  application  of  the  mind  to  an 
object  or  subject  for  the  purpose  of  acquiring  a  knowl- 
edge  of  it.      Study   involves    persistent    at- 
tention, the  continued  or  prolonged  holding 


*  This  tendency  to  narrow  the  meaning  of  instructor  is  seen  in 
the  college  distinction  between  instructor  and  professor,  the  term 
instructor  being  applied  to  college  teachers  of  a  lower  grade  than 
the  term  professor.  This  distinction  is  also  indicated  by  the  use  of 
the  preposition  "in"  after  instructor,  and  "of"  after  professor;  as 
an  instructor  in  physics,  a  professor  <?/"  physics,  etc. 


PRELIMINARY  DEFINITIONS.  1 3/ 

of  the  mind  to  the  knowing  of  an  object  by  acts  of 
the  will.  The  term  study  is  more  commonly  applied 
to  the  attentive  application  of  the  mind  to  an  object 
when  the  living  teacher  is.  not  present  directing  atten- 
tion or  occasioning  mental  activity,  as  study  out  of 
class  or  out  of  school.  The  term  is  also  loosely  applied 
to  the  pupil's  practice  of  an  art  under  his  more  imme- 
diate self-direction. 

It  follows  that  the  reading  of  a  book  without  atten- 
tive effort  to  grasp  the  thought  is  not  study.  The 
glancing  over  a  newspaper  to  glean  the  news,  or  the 
running  over  the  pages  of  a  story  to  discover  the  plot 
and  catch  the  more  striking  incidents,  is  not  worthy  to 
be  called  reading,  much  less  study;  and  it  may  be 
added  that  such  skimming  of  the  printed  page  weak- 
ens and  dissipates  mental  power.  The  forming  of 
the  habit  of  running  over  books  without  thought  is 
usually  the  end  of  mental  growth  and  culture. 

An  object  or  subject  of  study  may  be  a  materia) 
object,  an  event,  knowledge  presented  in  language,  oi: 
any  other  object  to  be  known.  An  object  course  of 
of  study  is  called  a  study,  and  a  series  of  study, 
related  objects  of  study,  a  branch  of  study.  When 
several  branches  of  study  are  collected  and  arranged 
with  reference  to  certain  conditions  and  ends,  they 
constitute  a  cojirsc  of  study. 

A  method  of  teaching  is  a  series  of  teaching  acts 
so  arranged  as  to  attain  a  definite  end  or  result. 
Method   is  more  than   the  manner  or  way       „   ^  ^ 

•'  Method. 

of  an  act  or  several    acts.      It   involves   a 
systematic  arrangement  of  a  series  of  acts,  an  orderly 
and    rational    procedure    to    a    given    end.      A    single 

W.   p.  — 12. 


138  EI.  EM  EN  TS  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 

teaching  act  has  its  manner  or  way,  but  not  method, 
and  a  series  of  such  acts  may  have  a  characteristic 
manner  without  ha-ving  method  or  system.  This  dis- 
tinction between  method  and  manner  as  apphed  to 
teaching  is  shown  in  such  expressions  as  "Reading 
may  be  taught  in  an  interesting  manner  by  the  word 
method,"  "She  taught  number  by  the  objective 
method  in  a  sprightly  manner,"  etc. 


GENERAL  METHODS  OF  TEACHING. 

There  are  two  related  methods  of  teaching  called 
analytic  and  synthetic.  In  the  analytic  method  knowl- 
Anaiytic  and  edge  is  taught  by  beginning  with  a  whole. 
Synthetic,  j^j-j^j  procccding  to  its  elements  or  constit- 
uent parts ;  and  in  the  synthetic  method,  knowledge 
is  taught  by  beginning  with  its  elements  or  constituent 
parts,  and  proceeding  to  the  whole.*  But  since  analy- 
sis and  synthesis  are  necessarily  united  in  every  com- 
plete process,  each  being  the  necessary  correlative  of 
the  other  (as  Sir  William  Hamilton  shows),  it  is  more 
accurate,  as  well  as  practically  better,  to  designate  a 
method  of  teaching  as  analytic  when  it  begins  with 
analysis  and  ends  with  synthesis,  and  as  synthetic 
when  it  begins  with  synthesis  and  ends  with  analysis. 

These  two  methods  of  teaching  are  illustrated  in  the 


■•■■It  is  not  meant  that  the  elements  or  constituent  parts  are  seen 
by  the  learner  at  the  beginning  to  be  parts  of  a  whole,  for  this 
would  involve  a  prior  knowledge  of  the  whole.  The  writer  sees 
no  ground  for  the  view  sometimes  urged  that  only  he  who  knows 
a  whole  can  synthesize  its  elements.  On  the  contrary,  the  whole  is 
often  only  known  by  synthesizing  its  elements,  these  being  fust 
known  as  individual  facts. 


GENERAL  METHODS.  I  39 

first  steps  in  teaching  reading.  When  a  word  is  taught 
as  a  whole,  and  then  its  elements  or  letters  are  taught, 
the  method  employed  is  analytic.  When  the  elements 
or  letters  are  first  taught,  and  then  through  these 
the  word  is  taught,  the  method  is  synthetic.  It  will 
be  noted  that  the  process  of  reading  sentences  and 
paragraphs  is  necessarily  synthetic.  The  reader  passes 
from  the  successive  words  in  a  sentence  to  the  sen- 
tence as  a  whole,  and  from  the  successive  sentences  in 
a  paragraph  to  the  paragraph  as  a  whole.  A  knowl- 
edge of  a  city  or  of  a  state  or  country  is  necessarily 
reached  by  synthesis,  and  the  same  is  true  of  all  ob- 
jects that  can  not  be  first  presented  to  the  mind  as  a 
whole. 

There  are  also  two  other  related  methods  of  teaching 
called  inductive  and  deductive.  A  method  of  teaching 
is  inductive  when  it  begins  with  individual  inductive  and 
facts  and  by  induction  reaches  a  general  Deductive, 
truth  or  principle.  A  method  is  deductive  when  it 
begins  with  general  truths  or  principles  and  proceeds 
by  acts  of  reasoning  to  their  constituent  or  included 
facts  or  truths. 

It  should  be  observed  that  all  deductive  teaching  is 
analytic,  and  all  inductive  teaching  synthetic,  but  the 
converse  is  not  true.  Only  deductive  knowledge  can 
be  taught  deductively,  and  only  inductive  knowledge 
can  be  taught  inductively.  The  constituent  parts  of 
a  chair,  a  landscape,  a  scene,  or  a  story  can  be  taught 
analytically,  but  not  by  deduction.  Much  of  history 
must  be  taught  synthetically,  but  its  facts  can  not  be 
grouped  by  induction.  The  reading  of  the  description 
of  a  journey,  a  life,  a  country,  or  a  natural  object  is 
a  synthetic,  but  not  an  inductive  process. 


140  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 


DISTINCT  TEACHING  PROCESSES. 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  principal  means  for  se- 
curing the  ends  of  education  are  teaching  and  learning, 
the  latter  including-  study  proper  and  practice.  The 
first  of  these  means  is  the  teacher's  work ;  the  second 
is  the  pupil's  activity,  though  more  or  less  under 
guidance. 

Teaching  includes  three  quite  distinct  processes  ;  viz., 
itistrnction,  to  occasion  the  pupil's  acquisition  of  knowl- 
xhree  edge  and  power ;  di'ill  to  deepen  impres- 
Processes.  sions  and  impart  skill ;  and  examination,  to 
disclose  or  test  results.  It  will  hereafter  be  shown 
that  these  three  processes  support  and  assist  each 
other;  that  they  all  unite  in  occasioning  those  activi- 
ties which  result  in  knowledge,  power,  and  skill.  It 
may  here  be  noted  that  instruction  has  more  special 
reference  to  knowledge  and  power  as  ends;and  drill,  to 
power  and  skill;  while  testing  supports  and  energizes 
instruction  and  drill  and  also  learning. 

Instruction. 

The  first  of  these  means  includes  oral  and  written 
instruction ;  i.  e. ,  instruction  by  the  living  teacher  and 
instruction  by  books.  Since  the  latter  can  best  be 
considered  under  book  study  (p.  149),  attention  may 
here  be  directed  to  the  nature  and  function  of  oral 
instruction,  or,  if  the  wider  term  be  preferred,  oral 
teaching. 


TEACHING  PROCESSES.  I41 

Oral  instruction  has  three  somewhat  dis-  orai 

tinct  phases.      It  inckides—  instruction. 

1.  The  presenting  of  objects,  material  or  immaterial, 
to  the  pupil's  mind  in  such  manner  as  to  occasion  those 
mental  activities  that  result  in  a  knowledfje 

'-'  Objective. 

of  these  objects.     This  includes  the  excit- 
ing of  the  pupil's  curiosity,  the  directing  of  his  obser- 
vation  and   thought,    the   fixing   of  his   attention,   and 
all  other  means  that  assist  him  in  knowing  the  objects 
presented.      This  may  be  called  objective  oral  teaching. 

2.  The  leading  of  the  pupil  to  recall  concepts  or 
ideas  of  objects  previously  presented  to  the  mind  and 
known,    and    by  thinking    to    discern   their 

'  -^      .  *=  ,  Indirect. 

likenesses  and  differences,  their  relations 
as  parts  and  wholes,  as  means  and  ends,  as  causes  and 
effects,  etc.  This  involves  the  use  of  words  which 
represent  concepts  and  ideas  known  to  the  pupil,  and, 
being  reknown,  become  present  elements  of  thought. 
The  teacher's  special  function  is  to  lead  the  pupil  to 
represent  these  elements,  and  by  thought  to  attain  the 
desired  knowledge.  To  this  end,  the  teacher  does  not 
directly  tell  the  pupil  what  he  wishes  him  to  learn, 
but  by  skillful  direction  leads  him  to  discover  or  dis- 
cern it  for  himself,  a  method  specially  applicable  in 
teaching  inductive  knowledge,  as  the  definitions,  rules, 
and  principles  of  arithmetic,  and  also  in  all  analytic 
processes.     This  may  be  called  indii-cct  oral  teaching. 

3.  The  direct   communication  of  facts  to   the   pupil 
by  means  of  oral  language.     To  this  end,  the  teacher 
expresses  relations  (new  to  the  pupil)  be- 
tween known  but  absent  objects  of  knowl- 
edge   by    means    of  words   which    represent    ideas   of 


142  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

things,  qualities,  actions,  and  relations,  familiar  to  the 
pupil.  The  words  of  the  teacher  recall  known  con- 
cepts and  ideas,  and  the  pupil  apprehends  or  thinks 
the  relation  or  thought  expressed,  which  completes 
its  communication  to  his  mind.  This  presenting  of 
new  relations  of  known  objects  to  the  pupil  by  means 
of  language  may  be  called  direct  oral  teaching.'^ 

The  possibility  of  thus  presenting  knowledge  to  the 
mind  by  means  of  language  is  a  matter  of  daily  ex- 
perience, and  on  the  certainty  of  the  knowledge  thus 
acquired  are  based  most  of  man's  aims,  hopes,  and 
efforts.  It  is  this  that  makes  speech  one  of  man's 
highest  and  best  endowments.  Indeed,  the  prime 
function  of  language  is  to  communicate  the  knowledge 
possessed  by  one  mind  to  another,  and  it  accomplishes 
this  by  its  power  to  occasion  appropriate  activities  in 
the  mind  addressed.  The  essential  condition  of  thus 
communicating  knowledge  to  another  mind  is  the  use 
of  words  that  represent  known  concepts  and  ideas 
(p.  117).  Take,  for  illustration,  the  sentence,  "The 
source  of  a  stream  is  higher  than  its  mouth."  The 
thought  thus  expressed  may  be  clearly  apprehended 
by  a  mind  that  has  the  concepts  denoted  by  "source," 
"stream,"  higher,"  and  "its  mouth."  It  may  be  true 
that  this  fact  can  be  better  taught  by  the  indirect  or 


*  It  may  be  claimed  that  this  is  not  oral  teaching,  and  that  the 
result  is  not  knowledge,  but  information.  This  clearly  depends  on 
what  is  meant  by  teaching  and  knowledge.  It  is,  of  course,  pos- 
sible to  give  a  meaning  to  teaching  that  excludes  the  greater  part 
of  the  teacher's  work,  and  to  give  a  meaning  to  knowledge  that 
includes  only  what  is  directly  known  through  the  senses,  but  such 
definitions  are  too  narrow  and  technical  to  be  very  helpful  in  the 
study  of  principles  and   methods  of  education. 


TEACHING  PROCESSES.  1 43 

inductive  method,  but  this  is  not  true  of  such  a  fact  as 
"General  Grant  died  on  Mt.  McGregor,  July  23rd, 
1885,"  and  multitudes  of  other  facts  that  might  be 
cited.  Many  of  the  most  inductive  truths  of  science 
are  communicated  to  other  minds  by  language,  and 
by  them  are  clearly  grasped  and  known.  They  are 
often  seen  to  be  true  as  soon  as  stated. 

It  is  further  to  be  observed  that  these  three  methods 
or  phases  of  oral  instruction — objective,  indirect,  and 
direct — are   not   only   used    in    elementary 

■^  •  Union. 

teaching,  but  they  are  often  blended  in 
the  same  lesson.  A  simple  "object  lesson"  may  in- 
volve oral  directions  for  observing,  including  the  asking 
of  questions,  and  not  unfrequently  the  telling  of  some 
fact  to  excite  curiosity,  deepen  interest,  and  direct 
observation,  and  thought.  The  present  object  is  often 
but  a  stimulus  of  the  mind  in  thought  activities. 

It  is,  however,  an  important  principle  of  oral  teach- 
ing that  tJie  pupil  should  not  be  directly  told  ivhat  he 
can  easily  be  led  to  observe  or  discern  for  him-        ,.    . 

■^  _  -^  Maxim. 

self.  A  violation  of  this  principle  robs  the 
pupil  of  the  joy  and  strength  that  would  come  from 
the  discovery  of  truth,  and  it  is  feared  that  this  is 
still  a  very  common  error  in  our  schools.  Direct  in- 
struction has  been  so  seriously  and  widely  abused  that 
it  is  hardly  possible  to  put  too  much  emphasis  on  the 
importance  of  using  objective  and  indirect  methods, 
when  practicable.  They  are  not  only  of  the  highest 
value  in  imparting  clear  and  accurate  elementary 
knowledge,  and  in  training  the  mind  to  think,  but 
they  thus  prepare  the  way  for  direct  teaching,  oral  and 
■v^-ritten,    and    fur   book    study.      The    primary    teacher 


144  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

needs  to  keep  the  fact  in  mind  that  much  talking  may- 
be very  poor  teaching. 

Drill. 

The  second  of  the  teaching  processes,  above  named, 
is  the  drill,  having  for  its  special  end  the  imparting  of- 
increased  power  and  skill.      In  school  edu- 

Function.  ... 

cation,  it  is  not  enough  that  pupils  be  led 
to  the  apprehension  of  a  truth,  but,  what  is  equally 
important,  they  must  acquire  the  power  to  apprehend 
it  again  with  greater  readiness  and  clearness.  It  is 
not  enough  that  pupils  once  reach  a  truth  by  inductive 
steps  under  the  teacher's  guidance,  but  they  must  ac- 
quire the  power  to  reach  it  again  with  less  guidance 
and  greater  certainty.  It  is  not  enough  that  they  be 
led  to  see  the  relations  and  take  the  steps  involved  in 
the  analytic  solution  of  an  arithmetical  problem,  but 
they  must  acquire  the  power  to  sec  these  relations 
easily  and  clearly,  and  to  take  the  successive  steps 
with  readiness  and  ease.  These  results  are  largely 
secured  by  drill,  by  repeating  acts  or  processes  until 
the  requisite  power  and  facility  is  secured.  It  is  true 
that  every  act  of  the  mind  leaves  as  its  necessary 
result  an  increased  power  to  act  again  in  like  manner 
(p.  50),  but  the  desired  degree  of  power  is  often  se- 
cured only  by  repeating  the  act  one  or  more  times, 
each  skillful  repetition  resulting  in  an  increase  of 
power. 

The  drill  is  not  only  an  important  element  in  teach- 
ing knowledge  and  increasing  mental  power,  but  it  is 

Drill  in        an  essential  means  of  imparting  that  form^ 
Teaching  Art.   ^f  powcr  Called  skill.      This  is  specially  true 


TEACHING  PROCESSES.  1 45 

in  teaching  the  school  arts  of  reading,  writing,  draw- 
ing, singing,  etc.,  arts  involving  the  action  of  the 
body,  as  the  hand,  the  eye,  the  vocal  organs,  etc. 
In  acquiring  these  arts,  the  pupil  must  not  only  have 
a  clear  ideal  of  what  is  to  be  done,  but  the  body  must 
be  made  the  mind's  ready  and  facile  agent,  and  this 
often  requires  long  and  well-directed  practice.  No 
manual  art  is  properly  mastered  until  the  manipula-*- 
tions  involved  become  largely  automatic,  and  the  same 
automatic  action  is  required  in  arts  that  do  not  require 
the  use  of  the  hand.  The  teaching  of  any  art  requires 
the  transmuting  of  knowledge  into  skill  by  tactful  drill 
and  practice. 

This  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  no  other  teach- 
ing exercise  is  more  readily  or  frequently  abused  than 
the  drill.  In  unskillful  hands,  it  easily  de-  Abuse  of 
generates  into  a  mechanical  routine  that  °""- 
adds  very  little  to  the  knowledge,  power,  or  skill  of 
the  pupil.  Nothing  in  school  work  can  exceed  the 
stupidity  of  some  of  the  so-called  drills  to  which 
classes  are  subjected.  The  greater  part  of  a  spelling 
drill,  for  example,  is  often  spent  on  words  which  no 
pupil  has  misspelled,  or  is  ever  likely  to  misspell, — 
which  would  require  a  special  effort  to  misspell.  Pu- 
pils drone  over  reading  lessons  which  they  know  by 
heart,  and  reread  them  without  the  least  gain  either 
in  grasp  of  thought  or  in  its  vocal  expression.  Pupils 
write  in  an  inattentive  and  mechanical  manner  page 
after  page,  the  writing  actually  deteriorating  from  the 
top  to  the  bottom  of  each  page.  Pupils  are  required 
to  solve  problems  over  and  over,  which  they  first 
solved  at  a  glance,  and  young  pupils  are  sometimes 
kept  combining  and  separating  groups  of  objects  after 

W.  p.— 13. 


1 46  ELEMENTS  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 

they  have  acquired  the  power  to  add  and  subtract  the 
corresponding  concrete  numbers,  and  even  abstract 
numbers.  Drills  with  counters  and  match-sticks  may 
be  as  useless  and  senseless  as  drills  in  counting  by 
naming  the  successive  numbers,  and  this  can  certainly 
be  made  sufficiently  stupid  to  illustrate  what  is  possi- 
ble in  this  direction.  The  waste  of  time  in  useless 
.drills  is  often  a  serious  evil  in  school  work,  and  aimless 
drills  are  generally  useless.  The  right  use  of  the  drill 
requires  insight,  judgment,  and  tact. 

The  abuse  of  the  drill  is  often  aggravated  in  graded 
schools  by  the  necessity  of  requiring  the  brighter 
Abuse  in  pi^'pils  to  go  over  and  over  what  they  have  / 
Graded  mastered,  for  the  benefit  of  the  duller  pu- 
pils, who  need  more  instruction  and  drill. 
The  amount  of  time  and  effort  thus  wasted  by  bright 
and  industrious  pupils  is  often  very  great,  and,  what 
is  worse,  they  not  unfrequently  lose  interest  and  fall 
into  indolent  and  careless  habits.  Being  chained  year 
after  year  to  the  duller  pupils,  they  learn  to  keep 
step,  and  soon  scarcely  show  their  ability  to  advance 
more  rapidly.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  extent 
of  this  evil  is  not  always  evident  to  the  teacher.  The 
writer  has  known  teachers  so  thoroughly  accustomed 
to  "the  grind  of  the  system"  that  they  would  deny 
that  the  brighter  pupils  in  their  classes  were  at  all 
injured  by  being  held  back  by  the  duller  ones,  and 
yet  these  v&ry  teachers  were  drilling  their  classes  until 
nearly  all  of  their  pupils  could  reach  the  coveted 
"ninety  per  cent"  in  examinations!  Tlie  teaching  of 
pupils  in  classes  in  a  graded  system,  without  sacrificing 
their  individual  powers  and  needs,  is  a  difficult  but 
very  important  problem. 


TEACHING  PROCESSES.  1 47 


Testing. 

The  third  exercise  included  in  teaching  is  tJie  testing 
of  the  results  of  instrtictioii  and  learning.  The  pro- 
priety of  considering  testing  a  form  of  teaching  has 
been  questioned,  but  such  a  classification  is  clearly 
justified  by  the  influence  of  testing  on  the  efforts  of 
the  pupil.  It  arouses  interest,  increases  attention,  and 
adds  an  increased  energy  and  persistence  to  mental 
action.  It  also  throws  needed  light  on  the  work  of 
the  teacher,  disclosing  imperfect  results,  and  thus  in- 
dicating  what  future  instruction  and  training  may 
be  needed.  Indeed,  whatever  may  be  one's  theory 
respecting  the  value  of  testing  or  its  relation  to  teach- 
ing, there  are  few,  if  any,  successful  teachers  that  do 
not  in  their  practice  unite  testing  with  instruction  and 
drill,  and  this  is  true  in  all  grades  of  teaching,  but 
increasingly  from  the  lower  to  the  higher.  It  is  often 
necessary  in  giving  the  simplest  primary  lessons  to  test 
the  results  as  a  means  of  determining  the  nature  and 
order  of  succeeding  steps.  This  incidental  testing  is 
also  supplemented  by  simple  test  exercises,  and,  in 
the  higher  grades  of  teaching,  these  give  place  to 
thorough  examinations. 

The  importance  of  the  test  as  a  means  of  securing 
study  has  long  been  recognized,  and,  as  a  consequence, 
it  has  had  a  prominent  place  in  school  Relation  to 
training — doubtless  too  prominent,  espe-  study, 
cially  in  elementary  schools,  where  it  has  often  taken 
the  place  of  needed  instruction  and  drill.  There  is 
also  a  very  close  relation  between  both  instruction  and 
study  and   the  nature   of  the  tests  applied   to   the  re- 


148  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

suits.  If  the  tests  touch  only  the  memory,  the  pupils 
will  memorize ;  if  the  tests  are  narrow  and  technical, 
the  instruction  will  be  narrow  and  technical ;  if  the 
tests  run  to  figures,  the  drills  and  study  will  run  to 
figures ;  if  the  tests  demand  details,  they  will  empha- 
size and  make  imperative  all  "the  lumber  of  the  text- 
books." It  may  be  stated  as  a  general  fact  that 
school  instruction  and  study  are  never  much  wider  or 
better  than  the  tests  by  which  they  are  measured. 

The  test  has  been  widely  abused  in  American  schools, 
and  this  abuse  has  had  an  unfavorable  influence,  espe- 
Abuse  of  cially  on  elementary  education.  The  use 
the  Test.  q^  j-gg^g  <^^^  chicfly  touch  verbal  memory, 
once  almost  universal,  has  been  th^-  occasion  of  much 
of  the  stupid  memoriter  work  which  so  long  charac- 
terized school  training,  and  the  use  of  examination  re- 
sults as  a  means  of  comparing  the  standing  of  schools 
and  pupils  has  narrowed  and  made  mechanical  the 
instruction  of  many  a  corps  of  teachers  capable  of 
better  work.  It  is,  indeed,  difficult  to  determine  which 
is  the  greater  evil,  the  use  of  improper  tests  or  the 
improper  use  of  test  results.  One  of  the  most  impor- 
tant problems  in  the  management  of  graded  schools  is 
to  determine  how  to  subject  the  results  of  instruction 
and  study  to  thorough  testing,  and  not  narrow  and 
groove  such  instruction  and  study^ — a  problem  that 
will  subsequently  receive  somewhat  careful  considera- 
tion (p.  193). 


STUDY  OF  BOOKS.  I49 


THE  STUDY  OF  BOOKS. 

It  has  been  shown  that  learning  is  the  result  of  the 
pupil's  own  activity,  and  that  the  end  of  teaching  is 
to  occasion  and  direct  the  learning  activities  of  the 
pupil.  Teaching  may  occasion  the  pupil's  immediate 
activity,  as  during  a  class  exercise,  or  it  may  occasion 
his  activity  out  of  the  class  and  even  out  of  school. 
This  activity  rr.ay  include  study. 

It  has  also  been  shown  that  it  is  an  important  end 
of  teaching  to  train  the  pupil  to  apprehend  knowledge 
expressed    in    language — to    pick    thought 

^  ^       i>  r  &  Book  Study, 

out  of  its  veibal  husk  ;   to  master  the  print- 
ed page.      It  now  remains  to  consider  more  specially 
the  training  of  the  pupil  in  the  art  of  book  study  as  a 
means  of  book  mastery. 

The  books  used  by  pupils  in  school  may  be  roughly 
classified  as  knowledge  books  and  drill  books.  The  chief 
purpose  of  the  former  is  to  present  knowl-  classes  of 
edge  to  the  pupil's  mind  by  means  of  Ian-  Books, 
guage  and  pictorial  illustration.  A  manual  of  geog- 
raphy, or  history,  or  physiology,  is  a  knowledge  book. 
Such  a  book  may  present  knowledge  directly  or  it 
may  guide  the  pupil's  mind  to  the  discovery  of  knowl- 
edge. The  chief  aim  of  the  drill  book  is  to  present  to 
the  pupil  material  for  practice  in  acquiring  power  and 
skill.  A  book  containing  arithmetical  problems  for 
solution,  words  for  spelling,  sentences  for  analysis  and 
parsing,  directions  for  practicing  an  art,  etc.,  is  a  drill 
book. 


150  ELEMENTS   OF  PEDAGOGY. 

Several   of  the   books   in   school   use  are  books  of 

knowledge  and   drill    combined.      This   is   true   of   an 

arithmetic  that  presents  not  only  examples 

Mixed  Booka.  ^  J  tr 

and  problems  for  practice,  but  also  defini- 
tions, principles,  rules,  and  other  statements  of  what 
may  be  called  the  science  of  numbers.  It  is  also 
true  of  a  manual  of  English  grammar  that  presents,  in 
addition  to  materials  for  practice  in  analysis  and  syn- 
thesis, the  elements  of  the  science  of  language.  A 
reader  is  both  a  knowledge  book  and  a  drill  book, 
though  too  often  used  as  a  means  of  teaching  the  art 
of  naming  words  at  sight.  An  elementary  text-book 
in  science  should  not  only  present  knowledge,  but  it 
should  also  direct  the  pupil  in  the  study  of  material 
things  and  phenomena,  to  the  end  that  his  knowledge 
of  primary  ideas  and  facts  may  be  widened  and  made 
clear  and  definite. 

The  value  of  drill  books  in  school  training  is  gen- 
erally conceded,  but  a  doubt  has  been  raised  respect- 
vaiueof  ing  the  use  of  knowledge  books,  especially 
Book  study.  \^  elementary  schools.  It  is  claimed  that 
the  knowledge  presented  in  school-books,  excepting 
such  as  is  connected  with  a  school  art,  can  be  more 
readily  taught  orally,  and  hence  it  is  inferred  that  the 
use  of  such  books  in  elementary  schools  is  a  mistake. 
But  the  fact  claimed  does  not  justify  the  inference, 
since  the  prime  end  of  school  training  is  not  the  im- 
parting of  knowledge,  but  the  imparting  of  the  power 
to  acquire  knowledge,  and  this  includes  the  power  to 
acquire  knowledge  from  books  (p.  Il8);  and  since  the 
majority  of  pupils  leave  school  before  they  reach  the 
secondary  or  high-school  period,  it  is  important  that 
they  be  early  trained  in  the  art  of  reading  books  with 


STUD  V  OF  BOOKS.  I  5  I 

ease  and   pleasure,   and   this   involves   practice   in   the 
study  of  books,  6r  book  mastery. 

It  is  possible  so  to  teach  pupils  during  the  first  eight 
years  of  school  that,  as  a  result,  they  will  have  very 
little  power  to  master  books,  and,  what  is  Neglect  of 
worse,  less  desire  or  inclination  to  read  ^°°'^  study. 
books  that  require  thoughtful  study  to  master.  It  is 
the  testimony  of  many  experienced  teachers  in  high 
schools,  especially  in  cities  where  oral  teaching  has 
been  prominent,  that  pupils  now  come  to  them  with 
less  ability  to  master  books  than  formerly,  and  with 
less  effective  habit  of  study.  It  is  admitted  that  such 
testimony  as  this  is  to  be  accepted  with  caution,  since 
it  is  difficult  to  carry  in  the  mind  data  for  such  com- 
parisons; but,  in  this  case,  the  testimony  is  not  only 
uniform,  but  it  is  supported  by  reasons  that  explain 
the  result.  The  ability  to  master  the  printed  page 
can  only  be  acquired,  as  all  art  is  acquired,  by  well- 
directed  practice.  Besides,  it  is  clearly  possible  to 
train  a  child  into  the  habit  of  so  relying  on  the  living 
teacher  for  guidance  in  observation  and  thought,  and 
for  stimulation  and  inspiration,  that  he  has  neither  the 
inclination  nor  the  power  to  hold  the  mind  to  the  study 
of  the  printed  page  until  its  contents  are  mastered ; 
and  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add  that  such  training 
is  not  the  best  possible  preparation  for  self-education 
when  school  assistance  ends. 

There  ought  to  be  no  chasm  between  oral  teaching 
and  book  study  in  school  training,  but  these  two  means 
of  education  should  be  harmoniously  and  effectively 
united.  This  is  increasingly  considered  the  most  im- 
portant problem  that  now  confronts  American  teachers. 


I  5  2  ELEMEN  TS  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 


ORAL  TEACHING  AND  BOOK  STUDY. 

It  may  be  stated  as  a  guiding  principle  in  the  solu- 
tion of  this  problem  that  oi^al  teaching  and  book  study 
are  complementaty  means  of  school  training,  the  former 
being  primarily  preparatory  to  the  latter. 

This  guiding  relation  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  all 
primary  concepts  and  ideas  in  every  branch  of  knowl- 

Primary  edge  must  be  taught  objectively,  and  hence 
Knowledge,  orally,  it  being  impossible  for  the  pupil  to 
acquire  these  elements  of  knowledge  from  language 
(p.  113).  The  same  is  true  of  those  primary  facts 
which  are  only  acquired  by  observing  and  comparing 
real  objects  and  phenomena.  The  attempt  to  impart 
such  primary  knowledge  by  putting  young  children  to 
studying,  much  less  to  memorizing,  printed  language, 
can  only  end  in  failure.  It  is  clear  that  to  this  extent, 
at  least,  oral  teaching  must  precede  and  prepare  the 
way  for  intelligent  book  study  in  all  grades  of  school. 

Another  reason  for  making  oral  teaching  preparatory 
to  book  study  in  elementary  training  is  the  fact  that 
The  Eye  Written  language  is  not  so  easily  understood 
and  Ear.  \^y  children  as  spoken  language.  The  first 
knowledge  which  the  child  acquires  from  language,  is 
presented  to  the  mind  tJiroiigJi  the  ear,  and  so  the  child 
early  forms  the  habit  of  attending  to  and  comprehend- 
ing spoken  language.  By  the  time  he  enters  school, 
he  has  acquired  the  power  to  grasp  thought  within 
his  experience,  when  expressed  by  known  words,  and 
this  is  done  so  readily  that  he  is  scarcely  conscious 
of  giving  attention  to  the  separate  words.     When  the 


ORAL   TEACHING  AND  BOOK  STUDY.  I  53 

art  of  reading  is  learned,  the  child  is  obliged  to  give 
conscious  attention  in  succession  to  the  words  which 
make  up  a  sentence  in  order  to  know  the  sentence 
as  a  whole  and  grasp  the  thought  expressed  by  it. 
It  takes  a  child  a  long  time  to  acquire  the  power  to 
run  the  eye  unconciously  over  the  words  of  a  sentence, 
and  see  the  sentence  as  a  whole,  and,  until  this  power 
is  acquired,  reading  is  a  more  difficult  art  than  listen- 
ing to  the  same  language  when  spoken. 

Moreover,  in  speech  the  voice  is  greatly  assisted  by 
bodily  expression.  The  movements  of  the  speaker's 
arms  and  hands  and  the  expression  of  his     „  .      _  ^ 

^  Voice  aided 

face  often  convey  more  meaning  to  the  by  Bodiiy 
child  than  the  words  spoken  by  him.  Not  "P^ession. 
only  the  emotions  and  desires  of  the  soul  but  many 
of  its  thoughts  have  a  bodily  manifestation,  and  hence 
a  gesture  or  a  look  may  be  more  expressive  than  a 
word.  The  writer  has  often  seen  the  dumb  tell  an 
incident  or  story  very  intelligently  by  means  of  pan- 
tomine.  The  face  and  the  hand  are  silent  partners 
of  the  tongue  in  the  art  of  expressing  thought.  In- 
deed, so  great  are  the  advantages  of  the  living  and 
present  speaker  over  the  silent  book,  that  compara- 
tively few  persons  ever  acquire  the  power  to  read 
books  with  the  same  ease  and  grasp  that  they  listen 
t6  speech.  So  marked  is  this  difference  during  the 
period  of  elementary  schooling,  that  oral  teaching  is 
a  necessary  means  of  preparing  the  pupil  to  read  the 
printed  page  intelligently,  and  it  must  not  only  pre- 
cede but  must  accompany  book  study. 

It  is  not  meant  that  all  oral  teaching  should  have 
a  direct  relation  to  book  study.  Much  oral  teaching 
guides  the  pupil  in  learning  school  arts,  and  especially 


154 


ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 


in  forming  moral  habits  and  character.     The  power  to 
read  books  is  only  one  of  the  ends  of  school  training. 

Another  important  truth  to  be  observed  in  the  solu- 
lution  of  this  teaching  problem  is  the  fact  that  tJie 
amount  of  oral  teaching  decreases  as  we  pass  up  in  the 
school  grades,  and  the  amount  of  book  study  increases. 
This  mutual  relation  is  shown  by  the  following  di- 
agram : 


6   TO    lO. 

10   TO    14. 

14   TO    18. 

Oral 

Teaching. 

^^^^ 

_,.^^ 

;                        Book 

Study. 

In  this  diagram  the  first  eight  years  (from  6  to  14) 
represent  the  period  of  elementary  education,  includ- 
ing primary,  four  years,  and  intermediate  or  grammar- 
school,  four  years;  and  the  last  four  years  (14  to  18) 
represent  the  high-school  period. 

Their  Union  in  Primary  Classes. 


In  primary  classes,  oral  teaching  and  book  study  are 
chiefly  united  in  the  teaching  of  reading,  including 
In  Teaching  Spelling;  and  it  is  both  desirable  and  pos- 
Reading.  siblc  SO  to  tcach  reading  during  these  four 
years  as  to  give  the  pupil  considerable  power  in  the 
mastery  of  the  printed  page,  as  well  as  to  initiate  the 
habit  of  attentive  study.  It  is  also  possible  so  to 
teach  reading  as  to  make  the  art  a  stupid  process  of 


ORAL    TEACHING  AND  BOOK  STUDY.  I  55 

mere  word  calling,  with  little  intelligent  apprehension 
of  the  meaning  of  the  words  named,  and  with  less 
grasp  and  appreciation  of  the  thoughts  which  they 
express.  The  teaching  of  reading  to  primary  pupils 
involves  not  only  the  teaching  of  words  as  such,  but 
the  teaching  of  the  concepts  and  ideas  which  the 
words  express,  and  the  leading  of  the  pupil  to  a  clear 
grasp  of  the  thought  to  be  read.  All  true  reading  is 
thought  reading,  and  this  is  as  true  in  oral  reading 
as  in  silent  reading.  The  expression  of  a  thought 
with  the  voice  requires  that  it  first  be  i?i  the  mind. 
In  the  primary  lessons  in  reading,  the  thought  and 
emotion  must  not  only  be  developed  and  illustrated, 
but  the  imagination  must  be  assisted  to  construct  the 
mental  pictures  involved.  All  this  involves  skillful  oral 
teaching  as  well  as  study,  as  hereafter  shown  (p.  219). 

The  teaching  of  numbers  presents  the  next  oppor- 
tunity for  the  introduction  of  book  study.  During 
the  first  two  years  of  school  training,  num-      ^,     ^ 

•'  °  Numbers. 

bers  are  best  taught  without  the  pupil's  use 
of  a  book,  but,  in  the  third  year  and  subsequently,  oral 
teaching  and  book  study  may  be  easily  and  effectively 
united.  The  elementary  arithmetic  stands  next  to  the 
reader  as  a  means  of  training  a  child  in  the  compre- 
hension of  printed  language,  and  especially  is  this  true 
when  it  contains  many  practical  problems  for  study, 
grasp,  and  solution.  There  is  no  finer  training  for  a 
child  in  close  thinking  than  the  mastery  of  language 
that  presents  simple  relations  between  concrete  num- 
bers, and  no  language  can  be  made  a  more  effective 
means  of  training  in  book  study.  In  the  studying  of 
such  language  the  child's  understanding  is  exercised 
rather  than    his   memory,   since   he    must   see    the    re- 


I5<5  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

lations  between  the  numbers  in  order  to  solve  the 
problems.  There  is  no  easier  or  surer  test  of  his 
grasp  of  the  thought  than  that  thus  presented. 

In  addition  to  this  training  in  reading  and  number, 

and  the    initiating   of  the  child   into    the  other  funda- 

^.u     o  w       mental   arts,    the  first  four  years  of  school 

other  Sub-  '  •' 

jects  Taught  should  teacli  the  primary  concepts  and  facts 
^^  '^'  of  geography  (those  relating  to  the  child's 
world  of  home)  and  such  other  simple  elements  of 
knowledge  as  may  be  acquired  by  observation  and 
experience.  Most  of  this  elementary  knowledge  can 
only  be  taught  orally,  and,  since  much  of  it  has  little 
direct  reference  to  the  branches  of  study  subsequently 
presented  in  books,  this  period  of  school  training  is 
characterized  by  oral  teaching.  The  pupil  is  not  only 
thus  furnished  with  a  large  stock  of  primary  ideas  and 
facts,  but  is  trained  in  their  expression  in  language. 
It  is  preeminently  the  period  of  word  learning  and 
language  training — of  acquiring  skill  in  the  use  of 
common  laneuafje. 


Their  Union  in  Intermediate  Classes. 

During  the  next  four  years  (the  intermediate  or 
grammar-school  period),  the  teaching  of  reading  should 
R  adin  increasingly  train  the  pupil  in  the  mastery 
of  written  language,  and,  to  this  end,  it 
should  increasingly  necessitate  earnest  book  study. 
The  reading  exercise  should  not  only  develop  all  new 
concepts,  images,  figures  of  speech,  and  thoughts,  but 
it  should  thoroughly  test  the  pupil's  understanding 
and  appreciation  of  the  lessons  or  pieces  read. 


ORAL   TEACHING  AND  BOOK  STUDY.  1$/ 

The  teaching  of  arithmetic  during  these  years  should 
unite  oral  and  written  processes ;  and,  by  easy  induct- 
ive steps,  the  pupils  should  be  increasingly 

^    ^  ^     ^  .        .  ^  ^        Arithmetic. 

led  to  a  knowledge  of  principles  and  defi- 
nitions, and  to  a  ready  generalization  of  processes  into 
rules  —  in  other  words,  to  the  science  of  numbers. 
The  text-book  will  furnish  excellent  material  for  such 
training,  and  intelligent  and  systematic  book  study 
can  be  easily  secured. 

When  the  fifth  school  year  is  reached  (if  not  a  year 
earlier),  the  pupils  should  be  well  prepared  for  the 
study   of  an    elementary   manual    of  geog- 

•'  ■'  o       o         Geography. 

raphy,  and  there  is  no  book  better  suited 
for  pupils  of  this  age  than  such  a  manual.  The  con- 
cepts and  facts  of  home  geography,  taught  orally  in 
the  primary  period,  not  only  afford  an  excellent  start- 
ing-point, but  the  maps  and  illustrations  appeal  to  the 
eye,  and  make  the  study  semi-objective.  Besides  the 
successive  lessons  may  be  readily  developed  orally,  and 
the  young  pupil  be  thus  specially  prepared  for  the  in- 
telligent study  of  map  or  text.  No  elementary  branch 
permits  of  more  complete  and  satisfactory  union  of 
oral  teaching  and  book  study  during  this  intermediate 
period  of  training. 

In  the  seventh  and  eighth  school  years  (better  eighth 
and  ninth),  the  training  in  language  may  be  supple- 
mented by  English  grammar,  provided  skill-  English 
ful  oral  teaching  prepare  the  way  for  the  Grammar, 
.study  of  the  book.  Both  analysis  and  parsing  must 
be  taught  orally,  and  the  book  will  furnish  only  a  part 
of  the  sentences  needed  for  practice.  The  mastery  of 
the   simple   sentence   in   its   several   forms  will   require 


158  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

a  year's  instruction  and  drill  (p.  259).  The  so-called 
principles  of  language  can  only  be  reached  by  careful 
inductive  study  of  language,  and  this  is  not  easy  work 
for  pupils  in  these  early  years.  The  value  of  English 
grammar  as  a  branch  of  study  at  this  period  will  de- 
pend chiefly  on  the  manner  in  which  the  subject  is 
taught.  The  use  of  good  English  is  the  best  road  to  a 
practical  knowledge  of  what  constitutes  good  English. 

In  the  seventh  or  eighth  year  the  elements  of  phys- 
iology may  be  successfully  taught  by  the  use  of  a 
Elements  of  mauual,  but  this  should  not  be  the  begin- 
Physioiogy.  j^jj^g.  q|-  instruction  in  this  subject.  Much 
important  knowledge  relating  to  the  human  body  and 
the  promotion  of  its  health  should  be  early  taught  to 
children.  In  giving  such  instruction  it  should  be  kept 
in  mind  that  children  can  apprehend  hygienic  facts 
and  duties  long  before  they  can  understand  their  sci- 
entific reasons.  It  is  a  grave  mistake  to  attempt  to 
present  such  reasons  by  teaching  young  children  tJic 
anatomy  of  the  vital  orga7is.'^'  It  is  also  to  be  remem- 
bered that  the  essential  duty  of  the  school  is  to  see 
that  the  hygienic  knowledge  taught  takes  practical 
issue  in  right  habits  and  conduct.  It  is  not  enough  to 
o,,  teach  children  the  facts  relating  to  cleanli- 

Observance  o 

of  Laws  of     ness,    posture,   exercise,    pure  air,  etc.,  but 
they  must  put  these  facts  into  practice,  at 


*The  writer  has  long  doubted  the  wisdom  of  teaching  young 
children  the  anatomy  of  the  vital  organs.  He  has  feared  that  ruch 
instruction,  especially  in  the  case  of  children  who  are  morbidly 
sensitive,  may  result  in  habits  of  introspection,  and  thus  interfere 
with  the  normal  action  of  the  vital  organs  and  disturb  vital  proc- 
esses. The  evil  may  be  aggravated  by  the  use  of  charts  and  models 
as  illustrations. 


ORAL   TEACHING  AND  BOOK  STUDY.  I  59 

least  while  at  school.  Much  excellent  instruction  on 
the  bad  effects  of  breathing  impure  air  is  given  in 
school-rooms  which  present  at  the  time  a  practical  illus- 
tration of  the  evil  condemned,  and  it  sometimes  hap- 
pens that  the  teacher  is  a  living  example  of  the  con- 
sequences of  an  habitual  disregard  of  the  "laws  of 
health."  What  is  needed  is  a  clear  recognition  of  the 
fact  that  hygiene  is  not  simply  a  science,  but  an  aH 
to  be  practiced.  Health  is  one  of  the  fundamental  arts, 
and  it  should  be  as  faithfully  taught  in  the  schools  as 
reading  or  numbers 

But  our  present  purpose  is  to  note  the  easy  union 
of  oral  instruction  and  study  when  a  manual  of  phys- 
iology is  used   by  the    pupils.      All  of  the 

^^  ,  ^  ^      ^  Use  of  Book. 

more  obvious  facts  of  the  science  can  be 
taught  orally,  and  most  of  them  may  be  learned  from 
a  good  text-book,  especially  if  its  study  be  preceded 
by  necessary  oral  instruction,  made  effective  by  ob- 
servation. The  materials  for  such  objective  teaching 
and  study  are  within  comparatively  easy  reach,  and 
the  text  and  illustrations  of  a  good  manual  may  thus 
be  made  easy  to  master.  For  these  and  other  reasons, 
the  use  of  such  a  manual  affords  an  excellent  oppor- 
tunity for  training  pupils  in  the  art  of  gaining  knowledge 
from  books.  To  this  end,  oral  teaching  and  observa- 
tion must  be  supplemented  by  earnest  book  study, 
and,  to  secure  such  study,  the  pupils  must  be  held  by 
searching  tests  to  the  mastery  of  assigned  lessons. 

The  seventh  and  eighth  years  of  school  also  present 
an  opportunity  for  the   union   of  oral   instruction  and 
book  study  in  the  teaching  of  history.     The 
use   of  a  manual   of  history  by  the  pupils 


l6o  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

at  this  age  presupposes  that  much  valuable  historical 
information,  local  and  general,  has  already  been  taught. 
Such  instruction,  in  the  form  of  stories  illustrating 
historical  characters,  may  be  given  early  in  the  course, 
and  this  may  be  followed  by  interesting  descriptions 
of  historical  events.  Much  information  of  this  char- 
acter is  presented  in  the  readers  and  other  books  for 
youth,  and  much  may  be  given  in  connection  with  the 
language  exercises.  It  is  to  be  kept  in  mind  that  all 
such  information,  whether  presented  in  the  form  of 
story  or  description,  must  be  reproduced  by  the  pu- 
pils. They  must  be  trained  to  tell  and  to  tell  well 
what  they  have  learned. 

When  the  text-book  is  put  into  the  pupils'  hands, 
it  will  still  be  necessary  to  prepare  them  for  its  prof- 
itable  study  by  oral  instruction.      There  is 

Use  of  Book.  ^         \  i  i     i   • 

not  a  chapter  in  any  school  history  that 
young  pupils  can  study  with  best  results  without  pre- 
paratory instruction,  and  few  events  are  so  described 
that  the  living  teacher  can  not  throw  needed  light 
upon  them,  thus  adding  to  the  pupil's  knowledge  and 
interest.  This  needed  preparatory  instruction  may 
often  be  given  in  connection  with  the  assignment  of 
the  lessons  for  study,  and  the  pupils'  interest  may  thus 
be  greatly  increased.  Besides,  a  school  history  pre- 
sents at  best  a  mere  outline  of  historical  knowledge, 
and  this  outline,  often  dry  as  dust  to  pupils,  must  be 
filled  somewhat  and  made  interesting  by  oral  instruc- 
tion and  reading.  The  practical  difficulty  is  to  keep 
the  oral  instruction  within  proper  limits. 

The  object  to  be  reached  in  teaching  history  is  not 
solely  to  impart  historical  information,  but,  what  is 
more    important,    to    give    pupils    the    ability    to    read 


ORAL   TEACHING  AND  BOOK  STUDY.  l6l 

books  of  history  intelligently,  and  to  create  a  taste  for 
and  interest  in  such  reading.  A  sure  way  to  defeat 
all  these  ends  is  to  require  pupils  to  commit  to  mem- 
ory and  repeat  the  words  of  the  text— a  stupid  practice 
still  too  common  in  American  schools.  I  know  of  no 
surer  way  to  create  in  the  pupil  a  strong  dislike  for  his- 
tory and  a  controlling  distaste  for  all  historical  reading. 

It  is  thus  seen  that  during  the  elementary  period 
of  school  training,  oral  instruction  and  book  study  may 
be  effectually  united,  and  that  it  is  only  by  Elementary 
such  union,  in  the  proper  time  and  manner,  Period, 
that  the  best  results  can  be  attained.  It  is  also  seen 
that  the  amount  of  oral  teaching  decreases  from  year 
to  year,  and  the  amount  of  book  study  increases.  It 
remains  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  the  last  two  years 
of  this  elementary  period,  especially,  should  give  pu- 
pils considerable  effective  practice  in  book  study,  not 
only  as  a  preparation  for  the  work  of  the  high  school, 
but  also  for  future  self-education  in  case  school  priv- 
ileges can  no  longer  be  enjoyed. 


Their  Union  in  High  Schools. 

In  the  high-school  period,  the  acquiring  of  knowl- 
edge from  books  is  less  difficult  than  in  the  lower 
grades,   since  the  pupils  possess  increased  orai 

ability  to  interpret  written  language,  but  Teaching, 
even  in  the  high  school  oral  teaching  is  a  necessary 
means  of  preparation  for  book  study,  this  being  spe- 
cially true  in  the  sciences  and  in  history.  In  such 
sciences  as  botany,  zoology,  physics,  and  chemistry, 
the  acquiring  of  clear  primary  concepts  and  ideas  must 

W.  P.-14. 


l62  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

precede    the   study   of  books,    and    these  can   only  be 
acquired  objectively,    /.  c,  by  the  study  of  things. 

In  most  high  schools,  the  large  number  of  pupils  in 
a  class,  and  the  limited  facilities  provided,  make  such 

Science  objective  teaching  and  study  difficult.  The 
Teaching,  lyiost  promising  beginning  has  been  made 
in  chemistry,  and  next,  perhaps,  in  botany,  but  what 
has  been  accomplished  in  this  direction  is  only  a 
promising  beginning.  The  attempt  to  teach  the  ele- 
ments of  these  sciences  from  books  is  still  a  common 
error  in  high  schools.  Pupils  in  botany  are  studying 
the  verbal  descriptions  of  plants  when  they  should  be 
studying  the  plants  themselves ;  and  pupils  in  chem- 
istry are  studying  descriptions  of  what  they  should  be 
actually  doing  in  the  laboratory.  It  is  in  the  teaching 
of  the  elements  of  science  that  the  laboratory  has  its 
highest  educational  value.  This  training  in  physical 
science  should  be  a  continuation  of  the  objective  teach- 
ing of  the  lower  grades,  and,  to  this  end,  it  should 
begin  with  and  extend  through  the  entire  high- school 
course.  When  the  study  of  a  text-book  in  each  sci- 
ence is  undertaken,  the  way  should  be  prepared  and 
the  study  accompanied    by  proper  oral  teaching. 

What  has  been  said  respecting  the  teaching  of  his- 
tory in  the  last  two  years  of  the  intermediate  period 
applies,     with     little     qualification,    to    the 

History.  .  .  ,  . 

teaching  of  history  in  the  high  school.  The 
needed  instruction  may  often  be  given  in  the  assign- 
ment of  a  lesson.  One  of  the  most  successful  teachers 
of  history  in  high -school  classes  that  the  writer  has 
ever  known,  usually  took  nearly  half  as  much  time  in 
the  assignment  of  a   lesson  as  she   did   in  conducting 


ORAL   TEACHTNQ  AND  BOOK  STUDY.  1 63 

the  recitation.  She  not  only  made  a  complete  analysis 
of  the  lesson  for  the  guidance  of  the  pupil's  study, 
but  she  directed  them  to  sources  of  information — to 
supplement  the  manual  used — giving  page  as  well  as 
author,  and  when  these  were  not  within  the  pupils' 
reach  she  gave  the  information,  if  needed  for  intelli- 
gent study.  Her  pupils  left  the  class  knowing  clearly 
just  what  would  be  expected  in  the  recitation,  and 
deeply  interested  in  the  subject  before  them.  In  all 
the  other  branches  there  will  be  found  a  place  for  oral 
teaching  as  a  needed  preparation  for  successful  book 
study.  The  practical  difficulty  is  in  determining  the 
place  and  amount  of  instruction  needed. 

The  errors  to  be  avoided  in  the  union  of  oral  teach- 
ing and  book  study,  especially  in  higher  classes,  include 
(i)  the  removal  of  the  necessity  of  proper  ^^^ 
study  by  too  much  instruction,  and  (2)  the 
requiring  of  pupils  to  master  book  lessons  for  which 
they  have  not  been  properly  prepared.  The  general 
principle  to  be  observed  is  that  assistance  should  be 
given  to  pupils  only  when  it  is  needed.  It  is  a  mistake 
to  give  such  instruction  in  advance  as  will  deprive  pu- 
pils of  the  benefit  and  joy  of  mastering  difficulties  by 
their  own  efforts ;  and  this  is  true  whether  mental  disci- 
pline or  abiding  knowledge  be  the  end  sought.  Every 
experienced  teacher  usually  knows  in  advance  what 
instruction,  if  any,  is  needed,  and,  instead  of  leaving 
his  pupils  to  sure  defeat,  he  will  skillfully  throw  just 
enough  light  upon  known  difficulties  to  enable  his 
pupils  to  overcome  them  with  the  feeling  that  the 
victory  is  their  own.  It  is  one  thing  to  solve  a  prob- 
lem for  a  pupil  and  rob  him  of  the  sense  of  victory, 
and  quite  another  to  assist  him  to  solve  it. 


l64  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 


CLASSES  OF  TEACHING  EXERCISES. 

It  has  been  shown  that  teaching  embraces  three  dis- 
tinct processes — instruction,  drill,  and  testing.  These 
three  processes  give  rise  to  three  equally  distinct 
teaching  exercises;  viz,  tnstruction  exercises,  drill  ex- 
ercises, and  test  exercises.  In  practice  these  three 
exercises  are  more  or  less  united,  this  being  specially 
true  of  instruction  and  drill  exercises,  which  are  closely 
united  in  the  teaching  of  all  school  arts,  and  also  when 
repetition  or  drill  is  necessary  to  deepen  impression 
or  increase  the  clearness  with  which  knowledge  is 
apprehended.  The  test  exercise  more  frequently  oc- 
curs by  itself,  and,  when  united  with  instruction  or 
drill,  it  is  usually  the  leading  or  characteristic  ex- 
ercise. 

These  facts  make  it  feasible  to  divide  teaching  ex- 
ercises into  two  distinct  classes,  called  Lcssojis  and 
Lessons  and  RecitatloHS,  the  formcr  including  instruction 
Recitations,  ^,-j^  ^^\\\  excrciscs,  and  the  latter  test  ex- 
ercises ;  and  it  seems  desirable  that  this  classification 
be  universally  recognized  in  school  literature. 

The  term  lesson  is  now  very  generally  used  to  des- 
ignate an  instruction  or  drill  .exercise,  or  an  exercise 
combining  both  instruction  and  drill.*  It  is  common 
to  speak  of  a  lesson  on  plants,  a  lesson  on  insects,  a 
lesson  on  climate,  etc.,  the  chief  element  in  each  ex- 


*The  term  lesson  is  also  used  to  denote  the  subject  of  study  or 
instruction,  or  a  task  assigned  for  mastery.  This  is  the  meaning  of 
the  term  in  such  expressions  as  "The  lesson  was  well  prepared," 
"The  lesson  assigned  was  too  difficult,"  etc. 


TEACHING  EXERCISES.  1 65 

ercise  being  instruction.  It  is  even  more  common  to 
speak  of  a  lesson  in  reading,  a  lesson  in  writing,  a 
lesson  in  drawing,  a  lesson  in  singing,  etc.,  exercises 
including  both  instruction  and  drill. 

The  use  of  the  term  recitation  to  designate  a  school 
exercise  doubtless  had  its  origin  in  the  old  practice  of 
requiring  the  pupil  to  repeat  or  recite  the  words  of 
the  book  as  evidence  of  knowledge.  The  reciting  of 
the  pupil  was  accepted  as  a  test,  and  so  the  recitation 
was  originally  a  test  exercise  —  largely  a  test  of  verbal 
memory.  But  the  term  has,  for  some  time,  been  used 
more  indefinitely  to  designate  either  a  test  exercise  or 
a  lesson,  and  it  is  sometimes  used  in  as  wide  a  sense 
as  the  term  exercise.  The  term  is,  however,  increas- 
ingly used  to  designate  a  test  exercise,  or  an  exercise 
in  which  the  test  is  the  chief  element,  and  we  accept 
this  as  a  warrant  for  the  limiting  of  the  term  to  this 
use  and  meaning.  It  is  believed  that  such  use  of  the 
term  recitation  will  increase  a  needed  recognition  of 
the  test  as  an  important  means  of  school  training. 

It  is  only  a  few  years  since  nearly  all  the  class  exer- 
cises in  American  schools  were  recitations,  the  lesson, 
especially  the  oral  lesson,  having  a  small  place.  Now 
the  class  exercises  in  many  schools  are  nearly  all  les- 
sons, and  the  recitation  receives  little  attention.  It  is 
important  that  these  two  exercises  be  used  as  coniplc- 
mentaty  means  of  school  training,  and,  to  this  end,  that 
they  be  properly  subordinated  and  united.  The  man- 
ner in  which  this  may  be  done  has  already  been  indi- 
cated in  the  union  of  oral  teaching  and  book  study, 
as  previously  described  (p.  152) — the  recitation  follow- 
ing and  testing  results — but  this  will  be  made  still 
clearer  in  subsequent  pages. 


1 66  ELEMENTS  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 


THE  LESSON. 

A  lesson  may  be  defined  as  a  teaching  exercise 
whose  aim  is  instruction  or  drill  or  Both.  When  in- 
struction and  drill  are  united  or  blended  in  a  lesson, 
the  one  is  usually  made  subordinate  to  the  other.  In 
teaching  those  arts  that  involve  manual  or  vocal  skill, 
as  writing,  drawing,  and  singing,  instruction  is  prepar- 
atory, and  has  a  less  prominent  place  than  drill.  Its 
aim  is  to  give  the  pupil  a  clear  idea  of  tvJiat  he  is  to 
do  and  Iioiv  to  do  //—knowledge  needed  for  guidance, 
and  the  clearer  the  pupil's  grasp  of  this  guiding  knowl- 
edge, the  more  fruitful  will  be  his  practice  (p.  124). 
But,  in  imparting  skill,  knowledge  must  be  supple- 
mented by  continued  and  persistent  practice. 

In  teaching  the  art  of  language,  instruction  and  drill 

are  more  equally  blended,   since   knowledge  must  be 

acquired  before  it  can  be  expressed.      Lan- 

Language.  ^  ,  .  r   i  i     j  j 

guage  IS  the  expression  01  knowledge,  and 
hence  the  learning  of  it  as  an  art  begins  with  the  first 
acquisitions  of  knowledge,  and  runs  through  the  entire 
course  of  education.  Its  mastery  is  so  important  that 
every  lesson  should  be  made  a  practical  and  effective 
drill  in  the  use  of  language.  It  is  not  enough  that  the 
lesson  aims  to  impart  clear  and  definite  knowledge ;  it 
should  also  train  the  pupil  in  the  art  of  expressing 
such  knowledge  in  clear  and  accurate  language.  This 
result  can  not  be  secured  by  a  parrot-like  repetition 
of  the  language  of  book  or  teacher.  The  pupil  must 
be  trained  in  the  expression  of  what  he  knows  in  his 


THE  LESSON.  1 6/ 

own  language.  It  is  true  that  there  are  in  nearly  all 
branches  of  knowledge  important  definitions  and  prin- 
ciples which,  at  the  proper  time,  must  be  taught  and 
memorized,  but  the  memorizing  of  scientific  language 
is  exceptional  work  in  elementary  education.  The  first 
aim  of  a  knowledge  lesson  is  to  lead  the  pupil  to  a 
clear  apprehension  of  the  truth  taught,  and  the  second 
is  to  train  him  in  its  clear  and  full  expression. 

A  child's  mind  should,  however,  be  increasingly 
stored  with  beautiful  and  vital  truths  expressed  in 
choicest  language.  Our  English  literature  Memorizing 
sparkles  with  gems  which  become  a  rich  Language, 
treasure  in  the  memory.  It  has  been  urged  that  ^ 
child  should  never  memorize  language,  the  meaning  of 
which  he  does  not  fully  understand.  The  writer  is 
glad  that  such  a  rule  was  not  observed  in  his  early 
training.  There  is  much  vital  truth  that  we  never 
fully  comprehend  until  experience  unlocks  the  mean- 
ing.  This  is  specially  true  of  religious  truth,  which 
we  know  at  first  only  in  part,  and  whose  meaning 
grows  clearer  and  richer  with  our  years.  The  ques- 
tion involved  is  chiefly  one  of  degree.  It  does  not 
subvert  the  important  principle  of  elementary  teaching 
that  the  memory  should  wait  upon  the  understanding. 

The  lesson  should  also  train  the  pupil  in  the  natural 
and  distinct  vocal  expression  of  knowledge.  The  pu- 
pil should  be  constantly  trained  in  speaking  vocai 
in  a  pleasant,  conversational  tone,  and  with  Expression, 
sufficient  distinctness  to  be  heard  easily  in  any  part 
of  a  room  of  ordinary  size.  It  is  well-nigh  idle  to 
drill  pupils  in  distinct  and  natural  tones  in  reading, 
if  they  arc   permitted  to   mumble  or  screech    in   their 


1 68  EL  EM  EN  TS  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 

other  school   exercises.     The  lesson   should  be  an  cf 
fective  drill  in  proper  vocal  expression. 

Methods  in  Lessons. 

Since  the  particular  method  to  be  employed  in  giv- 
ing a  lesson  will  depend  on  the  nature  of  the  knowl- 
edge to  be  taught,  and  the  mental  condition  of  the 
pupils,  it  is  not  practicable  to  give  detailed  instructions 
for  the  teaching  of  any  branch  of  knowledge.  The 
teacher  must  determine  for  himself  whether  the  knowl- 
edge in  a  given  lesson  can  best  be  taught  by  objective, 
or  indirect,  or  direct  methods,  and  if  the  teacher  have 
not  wit  enough  to  determine  this  fundamental  question 
of  his  art,  he  will  do  poor  work  in  attempting  to  follow 
prescribed  methods.  The  so-called  "model  lessons" 
may  be  profitably  studied  by  teachers  as  illustrations 
of  true  methods  of  teaching,  but  they  should  never 
be  blindly  repeated  or  mechanically  copied  as  patterns. 
Carpets  may  be  woven,  garments  made,  and  statues 
carved  by  pattern,  but  the  human  soul  can  not  be 
unfolded,  informed,  and  enriched  by  operatives  follow- 
ing prescribed  forms.      The  teacher  must  be  an  artist. 

One  of  the  most  common  mistakes  of  untrained 
teachers  is  the  attempt  to  use  the  objective  method  in 
Objective  tcachiug  knowledge  that  can  only  be  taught 
Method.  |3y  other  methods.  This  mistake  may  be 
avoided  if  the  fact  be  kept  in  mind  that  the  objective 
method  can  only  be  used  in  teaching  objects  of  knowl- 
edge that  can  be  presented  to  the  mind.  The  elements 
of  objective  knowledge  must  be  acquired  by  direct 
perception  or  observation.     There  is  a  clear  distinction 


THE  LESSON.  1 69 

between  objective  teaching  and  illustrative  teaching, 
which  is  often  overlooked.  An  abstract  truth  may  be 
illustrated  by  concrete  examples,  and  even  by  graphic 
charts  or  figures,  but  this  is  not  objective  teaching. 
It  is  only  when  the  concrete  example  is  presented  to 
the  mind  and  knowledge  is  reached  by  its  study  that 
the  method  of  teaching  is  objective. 

Another  common  mistake  in  giving  lessons  is  the 
attempt  to  teach  by  the  inductive  method  knowledge 
which  can  only  be  taught  directly.  The  inductive 
facts  of  history  and  biography,  and  some  Method. 
of  the  facts  of  geography  and  other  elementary 
branches,  can  only  be  taught  directly,  and  the  at- 
tempt to  teach  such  knowledge  by  inductive  or  other 
indirect  process  is  a  waste  of  time  and  effort.  When 
the  writer  has  seen  this  wrong  use  of  the  inductive  or 
drawing- out  method,  he  has  often  been  reminded  of 
his  boyhood  experience  on  the  farm  in  attempting  to 
pump  water  from  a  well  by  means  of  a  leaky  pump. 
He  first  poured  water  in,  and  then  springing  to  the 
pump-handle  vigorously  pumped  the  water  out  again. 
After  several  such  attempts  he  would  succeed  in  lift- 
ing the  water  in  the  well  above  the  pump -valve,  and 
then  quick  work  would  fill  the  bucket  with  cool  water. 
The  illustration  fails  in  one  particular.  In  pump-handle 
teaching  no  knowledge  is  drawn  out  that  is  not  first 
poured  in,  while,  in  the  case  of  the  pump,  the  water 
poured  in  did  assist  in  pumping  water  from  the  well. 

But  the  more  common  error  is  the  use  of  the  direct 
method  when   the  indirect  or  objective  methods  can 
be  successfully  employed.      Whether  men-         Direct 
tal  training  or  knowledge  be  the  end,  the       Method. 

W.  P.-i,. 


I/O  EL  EMENTS  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 

indirect  method  is  incomparably  superior  to  the  direct, 
and  hence,  when  practicable,  the  indirect  method 
should  always  be  used.  No  elementary  branch  of 
study  affords  a  better  opportunity  for  indirect  oral 
teaching  than  arithmetic.  All  of  its  definitions,  prin- 
ciples, and  rules  can  be  best  taught  inductively.  It 
is  a  cardinal  principle  of  elementary  teaching  that  the 
pupil  should  never  be  directly  told  what  he  can  easily 
be  led  to  see  or  find  out  for  himself. 

The  above  remark  respecting  the  determining  of 
particular  methods  of  teaching  applies  to  the  use  of 
Analysis  and  analytic  and  synthetic  processes.  These 
Synthesis,  ^^q  proccsscs  are  not  only  closely  united 
in  teaching  all  knowledge,  but  it  is  not  possible  in 
teaching  any  branch  to  make  either  uniformly  the  ini- 
tiative process  (p.   138). 

Both  analysis  and  synthesis  are  used  in  teaching 
reading,  and  even  in  teaching  words,  sometimes  the 
United  in  onc  being  the  initiative  process,  and  some- 
Reading.  timcs  the  othcr.  Words  may  at  first  be 
taught  as  wholes,  and  then  separated  into  their  letters 
or  sounds.  This  is  the  analytic  method,  the  analytic 
process  being  the  initial.  When  pupils  have  by  prac- 
tice associated  the  sounds  or  phonic  powers  of  letters 
with  their  forms,  they  may  be  wisely  taught  ' '  to  make 
out"  new  words  by  synthesizing  the  phonic  elements 
which  compose  them.  This  is  the  synthetic  method 
of  teaching  words.  Pupils  may  also  be  taught  to  di- 
vide certain  printed  words  into  syllables,  and  then  to 
synthesize  these  syllabic  elements  into  the  spoken 
words,  thus  uniting  the  analytic  and  synthetic  proc- 
esses.    This  union  of  syllabic  analysis  and  synthesis  is 


THE  LESSON.  I7I 

an  important  step  in  the  teaching  of  words.  The  read- 
ing of  a  sentence  or  paragraph  is  a  synthetic  process, 
but  the  thought  may  often  be  made  clearer  by  analyz- 
hig  the  sentence,  and  giving  special  attention  to  the 
words  or  groups  of  words  of  which  it  is  composed. 

Synthesis  and  analysis  are,  in  like  manner,  united  in 
the  teaching  of  language.  The  expression  of  thought 
is  a  constructive  process,  and  hence  is  syn-  united  in 
thetic.  This  is  obviously  true  of  the  ex-  Language, 
pression  of  thought  by  written  language.  The  writing 
of  a  word,  a  sentence,  or  a  paragraph  is  necessarily 
synthetic,  and  the  same  is  true  of  the  construction 
of  sentences  in  speech  or  conversation,  though  the 
thought  expressed  may  have  been  reached  by  analysis. 
Synthesis  also  prepares  the  way  for  analysis  in  teach- 
ing the  relations  of  words  in  the  sentence,  the  analysis 
of  what  has  been  composed  or  synthesized  by  the 
pupil  being  easier,  and  at  first  more  helpful,  than  the 
analysis  of  sentences  composed  by  others.  Synthesis 
and  analysis  should  be  conjoined  in  the  teaching  of 
grammar  (p.   255). 

In  like  manner  analytic  and  synthetic  processes  are 
united  in  teaching  geography,  some  of  its  facts  being 
best  taught  analytically  and  others  synthet-  united  in 
ically.  Synthesis  is  usually  the  initial  proc-  Geography, 
ess  in  teaching  home  geography,  including  the  geog- 
raphy of  one's  neighborhood,  county,  and  state,  but 
when  a  country  is  represented  by  a  map,  the  initial 
process  is  analytic.  The  earth  may  be  represented  by 
a  globe  or  map,  and  its  great  divisions  and  leading 
features  taught  analytically.  There  is  no  advantage  in 
teaching  in  succession  the  several  grand  divisions  and 


172  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

oceans,  thus  reaching  a  knowledge  of  the  earth's  sur- 
face as  a  whole  by  synthesis. 

This  union  of  analytic  and  synthetic  methods  also 
occurs  in  the  teaching  of  arithmetic.  The  principles 
United  in  of  uumbcrs  are  best  taught  by  induction, 
Arithmetic.  ^,-,^  ^-j^g  rulcs  by  generalization,  both  syn- 
thetic processes,  while  the  problems  may  generally  be 
solved  by  analytic  processes.  It  may  be  stated  as  a 
general  principle  that  the  deductive  truths  and  proc- 
esses of  mathematics  are  best  taught  by  analysis,  and 
inductive  truths  and  processes  by  synthesis.* 

These  illustrations  suffice  to  show  that  only  general 
directions  can  well  be  given  respecting  the  use  of  par- 
ticular methods  in  teaching.     The  teaching 

Union  of  °  0 

Different  of  the  facts  iuvolvcd  iu  a  single  lesson  may 
require  the  use  of  different  processes.  The 
teaching  of  scientific  knowledge  to  advanced  pupils 
may  not  only  reverse  the  order  of  the  processes  in- 
volved in  teaching  the  elements  of  knowledge  to  young 
children,  but  may  give  prominence  to  processes  little 
used  in  elementary  training.  This  brings  us  back  to 
the  truth,  already  stated,  that  teaching  is  an  art,  and 
not  a  mechanical  routine.  Skillful  teaching  requires  a 
clear  knowledge  of  guiding  principles,  a  quick  insight 
into  determining  conditions,  and  a  ready  adaptation 
of  means  to  ends. 

The  several  methods  of  giving  lessons  to  pupils  in 
classes  will  be  clearly  indicated  in  the  subsequent  dis- 
cussion of  methods  of  conductinsf  recitations. 


*This  is  not  inconsistent  with  Hamilton's  statement  that  "the 
first  procedure  of  mind  in  the  elaboration  of  its  knowledge  is  always 
analytical." 


THE  RECITATION,  1/3 


THE  RECITATION. 

The  recitation  may  be  defined  as  a  teaching  exercise 
whose  chief  aim  is  to  test  the  knowledge  or  power  or 
skill  of  pupils,  and  since  this  testing  sustains  a  close 
relation  not  only  to  other  teaching  exercises,  but  also 
to  the  pupil's  study  and  learning,  the  recitation  is  a 
very  important  exercise.  If  it  be  thorough,  searching, 
and  inspiring,  the  pupils'  efforts  will  be  vigorous  and 
earnest,  but  if  its  tests  be  haphazard  and  superficial, 
their  study  and  preparation  will  have  the  same  char- 
acteristics. As  a  rule,  the  study  of  the  pupil,  both  in 
extent  and  character,  never  rises  above  the  require- 
ments of  the  recitation  (p.   147). 

It  now  remains  to  consider  more  definitely  the  ob- 
jects or  aims  of  the  recitation  as  a  test  exercise,  and 
the  ways  in  which  it  may  be  made  efficient. 

Objects  or  Aims. 

The  recitation  assumes  that  appropriate  instruction, 
drill,  and  study  have  been  employed,  and  it  seeks  to 
test  the  results.  Its  first  object  is  to  test  Testing 
the  pupil's  knowledge,  and,  to  this  end,  it  Knowledge, 
must  search  the  pupil's  understanding.  If  the  recita- 
tion fails  to  test  the  pupil's  comprehension  of  knowl- 
edge, it  fails  in  an  essential  function. 

As  a  means  of  thus  testing  knowledge,  the  recitation 
must  require  its  full  and  accurate  expression.  Such 
an  expression  of  knowledge  is  the  only  evidence  of  its 
possession  that  can  be  accepted   in  the  recitation.      It 


174  EL  EM  EN  rs  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 

may  be  true  that  a  pupil  may  know  more  than  he  can 
tell,  and  it  may  also  be  true  that  he  can  tell  more 
than  he  knows — the  first  fact  being  chiefly  due  to  his 
inability  to  command  words  that  express  concepts  and 
ideas  in  his  mind,  and  flie  second  fact  being  due  to 
an  ability  to  repeat  memoriter  language  that  expresses 
knowledge  which  he  has  not  clearly  apprehended. 
But  whatever  may  be  true  in  these  respects,  the  rec- 
itation must- assume  that  knowledge  which  can  not  be 
clearly  expressed  is  indefinite  and  uncertain,  and  it 
must  require  such  an  expression  as  will  disclose  clear 
apprehension.  Besides,  since  it  is  a  prime  function 
of  the  lesson  to  train  the  pupil  in  the  clear  expression 
of  knowledge  (p.  i66),  it  is  important  that  the  recita- 
tion test  the  results  of  this  training.  Both  the  lesson 
and  the  recitation  should  recognize  the  fact  that  the 
power  to  express  knowledge  in  clear  and  forceful 
language  is  one  of  the  fundamental  ends  of  school 
training. 

A  second  aim  of  the  recitation  is  to  test  the  pjipiVs 
acquired  incntal  poivcr.  It  has  been  shown  that  mental 
Testing  powcr  is  a  more  enduring  and  valuable  re- 
Power.  5,^,j|-  Qf  teaching  and  learning  than  knowl- 
edge (p.  123),  and  it  follows  that  the  testing  of  this 
resulting  power  is  an  important  aim  of  the  recitation. 
It  should  test  the  pupil's  ability  to  observe,  to  recall 
and  reproduce,  to  imagine,  to  compare  and  analyze, 
to  generalize,  to  judge,  to  reason,  etc.  Recitations  in 
arithmetic  should  test  the  pupil's  ability  to  apprehend 
numerical  relations  expressed  in  language,  to  reason 
analytically  in  solving  problems,  to  reach  rules  and 
principles  by  inductive  generalization,  etc.  The  same 
is  true  of  the  tests  in  the  analysis  of  language,   and 


THE  RECITATION.  IJ^j 

of  the  tests  of  thought  power  in  other  branches.  One 
of  the  most  common  defects  of  recitations  is  that  they 
test  the  pupil's  abihty  to  repeat  language  and  not  his 
powers  of  observation  and  thought. 

A  third  aim  of  the  recitation  is  to  test  the  pupil's  skill 
in  school  arts.  Skill  is  primarily  manifested  by  action 
or  execution.      Skill  in  writing  is  tested  by 

.  .  .  Testing  Skill. 

writing,  in  drawing  by  drawing,  in  reading 
by  reading,  in  singing  by  singing,  in  composing  by 
composing,  in  adding  numbers  by  adding  numbers. 
In  the  manual  arts  skill  is  also  shown  by  the  products 
or  results,  and  the  same  is  true  of  those  arts  in  which 
results  may  be  preserved  in  written  form.  It  is,  how- 
ever, to  be  noted  that  the  products  or  results  of  art 
effort  manifest  power  and  accuracy  of  execution  more 
than  readiness  and  facility.  The  written  solution  of 
a  problem,  the  written  analysis  of  a  sentence,  a  writ- 
ten composition,  a  mechanical  drawing,  etc.,  may 
denote  accuracy,  but  not  rapidity  or  readiness  of  ex- 
ecution. It  is  for  this  reason  that  actual  execution 
is  a  better  test  of  practical  skill  than  the  results  or 
products  of  past  efforts,  and,  besides,  the  vocal  and 
purely  mental  arts  can  be  tested  in  no  other  way. 

The  testing  of  skill  is  so  readily  united  with  the 
drills  for  imparting  skill  that  the  recitation  as  such  has 
a  less  distinct  and  prominent  place  in  teach-  Recitation  in 
ing  art  than  in  teaching  knowledge.  There  Teaching  Art. 
is,  however,  great  advantage  in  separating  the  recita- 
tion from  the  drill  proper  even  in  teaching  art.  It  is 
one  thing  to  conduct  an  exercise  with  skill  as  the  sole 
end  in  view,  and  quite  another  to  conduct  a  drill  with 
testing  prominently   in    mind.      The   test   fetters    both 


176  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

instruction  and  drill,  and  largely  robs  them  of  their 
freedom  and  power.  Neither  the  instructor  nor  the 
trainer  can  do  his  best  with  a  pencil  in  hand  to  record 
results.  The  confused  mixing  of  the  recitation  and 
the  lesson  has  been  a  great  weakness  in  school  train- 
ing, and  it  may  be  added  that  the  so-called  "marking 
system"  has  been  a  serious  obstacle  in  the  way  of 
effective  teaching.  The  making  of  the  test,  with  its 
record  of  results,  a  separate  exercise  would  do  much 
to  remove  these  weaknesses. 

It  is  not  meant  that  it  is  either  practicable  or  de- 
sirable to  separate  the  test  completely  from  instruction 
Union  of  ^"^  ^riU  in  class  exercises.  On  the  con- 
Exercises.  trary,  the  searching  test  may  not  only 
disclose  the  necessity  of  throwing  more  light  on  an 
obscure  point,  or  making  clear  an  imperfectly  under- 
stood truth,  but  it  may  present  the  best  possible 
opportunity  for  such  incidental  instruction.  It  may 
also  present  an  equally  favorable  opportunity  for  added 
drill  to  deepen  impression  and  fix  a  truth  more  clearly 
in  the  memory.  The  practical  difficulty  is  in  keeping 
such  incidental  instruction  and  drill  within  proper  lim- 
its. It  is  liable  to  run  av.^ay  with  the  recitation  if  not 
kept  under  firm  control.  It  is  always  a  mistake  for  a 
teacher  to  permit  instruction  to  crowd  out  testing  in 
a  recitation.  It  does  not  take  pupils  long  to  apply 
the  doctrine  of  probabilities  to  determine  the  necessity 
of  study,  and  too  many  pupils  will  take  the  chances 
if  there  be  not  well-nigh  certainty  that  the  results  of 
their  study  will  be  tested.  It  must  be  kept  in  mind 
that  the  first  and  essential  aim  of  the  recitation  is  to 
test,  and  this  aim  should  not  be  subverted  by  making 
the  exercise  chiefly  a  lesson. 


THE  RECITATION.  I  77 

It  is  also  true  that  the  test  may  be  more  or  less  em- 
ployed in  the  lesson,  especially  in  elementary  schools, 
but  it  should  be  used  incidentally,  and  as  an  aid  to 
instruction  or  drill. 

The  importance  of  the  recitation  in  school  training 
justifies  a  careful  consideration  of  the  merits  and  de- 
fects of  the  methods  of  conducting  recitations  com- 
monly used  in  American  schools.  These  may  be 
divided  into  two  classes ;  viz,  methods  of  testing  pupils, 
and  methods  of  calling  on  piipils  to  recite. 

Methods  of  Testing. 

There  are  two  distinct  methods  of  testing  a  p/upil's 
knowledge* — the  catecJietic  or  question  method,  and  the 
topic  method,  the  first  presenting  tests  in  the  form  of 
questions,  and  the  second  in  the  form  of  topics.  Ques- 
tion tests  are  more  definite  and  usually  require  a  briefer 
statement  or  answer  than  topic  tests.  A  topic  may 
only  in'Hcate  the  general  character  of  the  knowledge 
sought,  and,  as  a  rule,  the  more  general  a  topic,  the 
less  de'mite  and  searching  it  is  as  a  test.  The  recital 
of  a  topic  may  involve  its  analysis,  and  the  arranging 
of  the  several  sub-topics  in  logical  order.  This  is  the 
analytic  phase  of  the  topic  method. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  merits  and  defects  of  these 
two  methods  of  testing  in  order  to  determine  their 
comparative  value  and  proper  use. 


*In  order  to  make  this  discussion  as  definite  and  practical  as 
possible,  it  is  here  limited  to  methods  of  testing  knowledge,  but  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  principles  and  processes  involved  also  apjily  to 
the  testing  of  power  and  skill,  at  least  so  far  as  these  can  be  shown 
by  language. 


I  7 8  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDA  G O G  V. 


I.    The  Question  Method. 

The  chief  merit  of  the  question  method  of  testing 

is  its  thoroughness.     There  is  no  test  of  knowledge  as 

searching  and  thorough  as  a  skillful   ques- 

Merits.  ^  ^    .  ^ 

tion.  A  very  superficial  knowledge  of  a 
subject  will  enable  a  pupil  to  talk  on  or  about  it,  but 
the  answering  of  a  scries  of  well-directed  questions  is 
another  matter. 

The  question  method  also  permits  a  systematic  tin- 
folding  of  a  subject.  It  not  only  gives  the  teacher 
control  of  the  order  of  the  topics,  but  also  of  the 
included  facts,  and  he  can  thus  give  due  prominence 
to  the  more  important  and  fundamental.  The  prac- 
tical value  of  this  feature  is  too  obvious  to  justify 
elucidation. 

The  question  method  also  permits  the  imparting  of 
needed  incidental  instruction  with  comparatively  little 
sacrifice  of  the  efficiency  of  the  recitation  as  a  test. 
When  searching  questions  show  that  explanation  or 
information  is  needed,  the  pupils  are  in  a  favorable 
condition  to  receive  it,  and  it  may  often  be  given  in 
few  words,  and  thus  lessen  but  little  the  efficiency  of 
the  recitation  as  a  test. 

To  secure  the  above  advantages  the  questions  used 
as  tests  should  be  clear,  concise,  and  definite.  The  first 
Nature  of  stcp  in  answering  a  question  is  its  clear 
Questions,  comprehcnsion,  and  hence  it  should  be 
stated  clearly  and  in  the  fewest  possible  words.  An 
ambiguous  or  wordy  question  occasions  hesitancy  and 
confusion,  while  an  indefinite  question  invites  a  loose 
and    pointless   answer.      As  a  rule  a    question    should 


THE  RECITATION.  1 79 

be  as  accurate  and  definite  as  the  answer  which  it 
soHcits. 

The  questions  used  in  recitations  should  be  so  ar- 
ranged as  to  unfold  the  subject  in  a  logical  order — a 
very  important  matter.  The  order  in  which  a  subject 
is  unfolded  may  make  the  pupil's  knowledge  clearer 
and  more  permanent,  or  it  may  confuse  and  muddle 
it.  The  teacher's  tests  should  be  logically  arranged 
and  systematic. 

All  questions  that  suggest  the  answer,  technically 
called  leading  questions,  are  worthless  as  tests,  and 
should  be  carefully  avoided.  The  same  is  true  of 
questions  that  can  be  answered  by  "yes"  or  "no." 
The  pupil,  whatever  may  be  his  ignorance,  is  more 
likely  to  answer  such  questions  correctly  than  incor- 
rectly. The  manner  in  which  the  question  is  asked, 
the  suggestive  look  of  teacher  or  fellow-pupil,  con- 
scious or  unconscious,  or  some  other  hint,  may  make 
correct  guessing  quite  easy.  It  usually  takes  a  very 
dull  pupil  to  miss  a  "yes-or-no"  question.  It  may 
be  added  that  the  practice  of  helping  pupils  in  recita- 
tions by  leading  questions  or  otherwise  is  pernicious. 
It  deceives  the  pupil  respecting  his  ignorance,  and 
begets  bad  habits  of  study.  The  recitation  is  prima- 
rily a  test,  and  as  such  it  should  hold  the  pupil  rigidly 
to  itG  requirements. 

The  chief  defect  of  the  method  of  conducting  rec- 
itations by  questions  is  its  failure  to  test  satisfactorily 
the  pupil's  power  of  expression.  This  de-  Defects  of 
feet  may  be  partly  overcome  by  requiring  Method. 
pupils  to  give  full  and  complete  answers,  but  even 
this  is  more  or  less  inadequate  as  a  test  of  expression. 
Many  of  the  answers  received   in  our  schools  consist 


I  So  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

of  a  single  word,  or  two  or  more  words  not  forming  a 
sentence — answers  admissible  in  rapid  reviews,  but  not 
in  testing.  In  the  recitation  pupils  should,  as  a  rule, 
be  required  to  answer  questions  in  complete  sentences. 
It  is  certainly  not  a  good  practice  for  a  teacher  to  use 
more  words  in  asking  questions  than  pupils  use  in 
answering  them. 

Another  defect  of  the  question  method  is  its  failure 
to  necessitate  systematic  thought.  The  order  of  topics 
being  determined  by  the  teacher's  question,  the  pupil 
is  relieved  from  the  necessity  of  analyzing  the  subject 
and  arranging  his  knowledge  of  it  in  a  systematic 
manner.  This  defect  is  greatest  when  the  pupil's 
study  consists  in  attaching  ready-made  answers  to  the 
printed  questions  in  a  book — a  process  about  as  me- 
chanical as  the  fitting  of  pegs  to  holes  of  different 
sizes.  A  pupil  may,  for  example,  thus  learn  the  an- 
swers to  scores  of  questions  concerning  a  given  country 
without  forming  a  conception  of  it.  His  knowledge 
is  in  fragments.  The  recitation  should  be  so  con- 
ducted as  to  necessitate  a  systematic  arrangement  of 
the  pupil's  knowledge.  It  is  not  enough  for  him  to 
acquire  knowledge  as  classified  by  another  mind ;  the 
work  of  classifying  and  arranging  must  be  done  by 
himself,  especially  in  the  higher  grades  of  school. 

It  is  thus  seen  that  the  skillful  testing  of  a  class  of 
pupils  by  questions  requires  thorough  knowledge  and 
Art  of  careful  preparation  by  the  teacher.  The  art 
Questioning,  ^f  asking  qucstions  is  not  a  simple  art.  It' 
requires  a  clear  and  systematic  knowledge  of  a  subject,' 
a  ready  command  of  good  English,  and  a  distinct  and 
controlling  aim.  There  has  never  been  a  more  stupid 
practice  in  our  schools  than  "the  asking  of  questions 


THE  RECITATION.  l8l 

from  the  book" — now  happily  disappearing.  The 
author's  questions  may  be  models  in  form  and  arrange- 
ment, but  their  use  in  the  recitation  degrades  the 
teacher  to  a  mere  machine,  and  reduces  his  teaching 
to  a  mechanical  and  lifeless  routine.  The  only  proper 
use  of  such  questions  is  to  assist  teacher  and  pupil  in 
preparing  for  the  recitation,  the  teacher  in  increasing 
his  skill  in  questioning,  and  the  pupil  in  testing  his 
knowledge. 

II.    The  Topic  Method. 

The  most  obvious  merit  of  the  topic  method  is  its 
value  as  a  test  of  expressioi.  In  reciting  a  topic,  the 
pupil  is  obliged   to  tell  what  he  knows  of 

:      r  .  .       .  Merits. 

it  in   successive  sentences,    and   this  is   ob- 
viously a  much  better  test  of  his  command  of  language 
than  the  giving  of  brief  answers  to  specific  questions. 

The  topic  method,  when  properly  used,  necessitates 
systematic  thought  in  preparation.  Recitations  may  be 
so  conducted  as  to  require  pupils  to  arrange  their 
knowledge  of  topics  in  some  definite  order,  and  more 
advanced  pupils  may  be  required  to  make  in  study 
analyses  of  topics,  and  to  follow  these  in  reciting. 
This  affords  an  excellent  training  both  in  thought  and 
expression. 

The  topic  method  requires  a  clear-headed,  thorough 
teacher  to  use  it  with  success.  In  the  hands  of  a 
superficial  teacher  it  often  degenerates  into  mere  talk- 
ing, the  pupils  often  failing  to  state  what  is  most 
essential  to  be  known,  giving  instead,  comparatively 
unimportant  details.  Such  recitations  are  exceedingly 
deceptive  as  tests,  as  experience  has  often  clearly 
shown. 


l82  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

A  comparison  of  the  question  and  topic  methods, 
as  above  presented,  shows  that  they  supplement  each 
other,  the  one  being  weak  where  the  other  is  strong, 
and  vice   versa.      This  fact  suggests  that    the    best    re- 

,,  .       r      suits  may  be  secured  by  the  union  of  the 

Union  of  '^  •' 

these  methods  in  a  practical  manner.  In  higher 
classes  this  may  be  accomplished  by  per- 
mitting pupils  to  study  and  recite,  in  the  main,  on 
the  topic  plan,  but  frequently  testing  their  knowledge 
by  interjected  questions.  This  may  be  readily  done 
even  in  a  recitation  in  geometry.  As  a  rule,  when  a 
pupil's  reciting  fails  to  show  a  satisfactory  knowledge 
of  a  topic,  he  should  be  plied  with  searching  ques- 
tions; and  the  teacher  should  be  on  the  alert  for  op- 
portunities thus  to  increase  the  thoroughness  of  the 
topic  test.  In  primary  classes  the  question  method 
should  be  generally  used,  both  for  instruction  and 
testing,  and  even  in  intermediate  schools  the  topic 
method  should  be  more  widely  used  in  reviews  than 
in  advancing  exercises,  especially  in  the  lower  classes. 

Methods  of  Calling  on  Pupils. 

There  are  three  quite  distinct  methods  of  calling  on 
pupils  to  recite — the  Consecutive  method,  the  Promis- 
cuous method,  and  the  Simultaneous  method.  In  the 
first  of  these  methods  pupils  recite  in  consecutive  or- 
der or  "by  turn;"  in  the  second  they  are  designated 
promiscuously  by  the  teacher;  and  in  the  third  they 
recite  simultaneously  or  "in  concert."  The  teacher 
should  know  the  comparative  merits  of  these  different 
methods,  and  should  be  able  to  use  each  wisely  and 
skillfully. 


THE  RECITATION.  1 83 


I.    The  Consecutive  Method. 

The  first  advantage  of  the  consecutive  method  is  its 
rapidity.  Since  the  pupils  recite  in  turn,  no  time  is  lost 
in  designating  the   pupil  who   is   to  recite, 

,  ,  .  Advantages. 

and  since  each  pupil  knows  just  when  he 
is  to  recite,  he  is  prepared  to  recite  promptly.  It  is 
true  that  the  promiscuous  method  may  be  so  used  as 
to  oblige  pupils  to  be  ready  to  recite,  but  the  possibility 
that  they  may  not  be  called  on,  causes,  as  a  rule,  some 
hesitation.  In  the  turn  method  the  pupils'  time  of 
reciting  is  a  certainty,  and  hence  they  are  not  only 
on  the  alert,  but  are  ready  to  proceed.  Experience 
shows  that  more  questions  can  be  asked  and  answered 
in  a  given  time  when  the  consecutive  method  is  used 
than  when  the  pupils  to  recite  are  designated  by  the 
teacher. 

Another  advantage  of  this  method  is  the  fact  that  it 
is  easy  for  the  teacher.  It  relieves  him  of  the  neces- 
sity of  selecting  and  designating  the  pupils  to  recite, 
and,  so  far  as  testing  goes,  his  labor  is  thus  reduced 
to  asking  questions  or  assigning  topics,  and  then  de- 
termining the  correctness  of  the  pupils'  answers  or 
responses.  The  recitation  proper  proceeds  as  me- 
chanically and  regularly  as  clock-work. 

A  third  advantage  of  the  consecutive  method  is  the 
fact  that  all  the  pupils  Jiave  an  opportunity  of  reciting. 
No  pupil  is  omitted.  If  the  class  is  too  large  to  per- 
mit all  to  recite  at  a  given  recitation,  the  next  may 
take  up  the  reciting  at  the  proper  pupil,  and  thus  all 
are  called  on  in  due  time,  and  all  have  an  equal  op- 
portunity to  recite,  provide^,  of  course,  that  the  mem- 


1 84  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

bers  of  the  class  take  their  places  from  day  to  day 
in  a  fixed  or  regular  order.  The  importance  of  this 
advantage  will  be  more  specially  considered  in  connec- 
tion with  the  promiscuous  method. 

The  chief  defect  of  the  consecutive  method  is  its 
failure  to  necessitate  close  and  universal  attention.  The 
pupil  reciting  and  possibly  the  one  who 
has  the  next  "turn,"  must  give  attention, 
but  the  others  are  not  obliged  to  do  so.  When  the 
pupils  near  the  head  of  the  class  are  reciting,  those 
near  the  foot  may  or  may  not  be  following  them.  As 
soon  as  a  pupil  has  recited,  he  can  go  a-fishing  men- 
tally until  his  "turn"  comes  again.  A  skillful  teacher 
may,  of  course,  so  interest  his  class  in  the  recitation 
as  to  secure  close  and  undivided  attention,  but  this 
is  not  a  necessary  result  of  the  consecutive  method. 
Universal  attention  is  secured  not  in  consequence  of 
the  method,  but  in  spite  of  it. 

A  second  weakness  of  the  method,  as  generally 
used,  is  the  fact  that  it  permits  a  partial  preparation  of 
the  lesson.  The  pupils  near  the  foot  of  the  class  are 
tempted  to  neglect  the  part  of  the  lesson  which  will 
be  recited  by  the  pupils  near  the  head,  and  vice  versa.. 
When  the  old  plan  of  having  pupils  read  one  "verse" 
each  prevailed,  many  pupils  counted  the  verses,  and 
studied  only  the  one  which  they  would  read,  and  this 
practice  still  exists  not  only  in  schools,  but  even  in 
some  colleges  where  students  recite  in  turn.  As  a 
rule,  pupils  will  study  most  faithfully  that  portion  of 
the  lesson  which  they  expect  to  recite,  and  the  turn 
method  permits  this  expectation. 

This  defect  may  be  obviated  by  not  following  the 
order  of  the  text-book  in  asking  questions  and  assign- 


THE  RECITATION.  1 85 

ing  topics,  but  much  more  effectively  by  having  the 
reciting  begin  from  day  to  day  at  different  positions  in  the 
class.  If  the  recitation  begins  with  the  third  pupil 
one  day,  with  the  tenth  pupil  the  next  day,  the  sixth 
pupil  the  next  day,  and  so  on,  no  pupil,  when  pre- 
paring the  lesson,  can  even  guess  what  portion  of  it 
will  fall  to  him  to  recite,  and  hence  he  is  only  safe 
when  he  has  prepared  the  entire  lesson.  This  device 
works  best  when  all  the  pupils  of  a  class  recite  daily. 

Another  defect  of  the  consecutive  method  is  the  fact 
that  it  prevejits  the  most  tJiorough  testing  of  a  class.  The 
tests  which  by  turn  fall  to  the  different  pupils  may  not 
be  those  which  best  disclose  their  knowledge  of  the 
subject.  The  revolving  recitation  may,  for  example, 
bring  to  an  idle  pupil  the  only  question  or  topic  which 
he  can  recite,  and  he  may  thus  be  tempted  to  trust 
to  luck  next  time,  the  idle  being  very  easily  tempted. 
The  wise  teacher  usually  knows  where  to  throw  his 
tests  to  disclose  ignorance  or  neglect  of  study.  The 
highest  efficiency  of  a  recitation  depends  largely  on  a 
skillful  distribution  of  its  tests. 

II.    The  Promiscuous  Method. 

A  study  of  this  method  of  calling  on  pupils  to  re- 
cite shows  that  its  merits  and  defects  are  respectively 
the    inverse    of   those    of   the    consecutive        ,,    .^ 

Merits. 

method.  Its  most  obvious  merit  is  the  fact 
that  it  secures  and  holds  the  attention  of  all  the  pupils  in 
a  class.  It  is  true  that  this  result  depends  somewhat 
on  the  skill  of  the  teacher,  but  the  method  both  per- 
mits and  favors  the  highest  success.  When  a  topic 
or  question    is  announced,   every  pupil  is   obliged  to 

W.  P.-16. 


1 86  ELEMENTS  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 

be  on  the  alert,  as  he  may  be  designated  to  recite. 
He  must  also  give  attention  to  the  pupil  reciting,  as  at 
any  moment,  he  may  be  called  upon  to  correct  errors, 
supply  omissions,  or  complete  the  recitation,  and  this 
is  specially  true  when  the  teacher  frequently  calls  on 
pupils  to  complete  the  recitation  of  another,  taking  it 
up  precisely  at  the  right  point.  This  may  be  readily 
done  in  recitations  in  arithmetic,  particularly  in  the 
oral  solutions  of  mental  problems,  and  also  in  history, 
reading,  physiology,  and  other  branches.  This  advan- 
tage of  the  promiscuous  method  is  wholly  lost  when 
the  pupil  to  recite  is  designated  before  the  question  is 
asked  or  the  topic  assigned,  as  is  frequently  done  by 
teachers  who  have  never  made  a  special  study  of 
m.ethod.  The  test  should  first  be  submitted  to  the 
class,  and  there  should  not  be  even  a  prior  glance  at 
the  pupil  to  be  called  on  to  recite. 

A  second  advantage  of  this  method  is  the  fact  that 
it  permits  a  proper  distribution  of  tests.  The  tests  can 
be  thrown  by  the  teacher  just  where  they  will  prove 
most  effective  and  do  the  most  good.  The  idle  pupil 
may  be  given  full  opportunity  to  show  the  results  of 
idleness ;  the  pupil  who  was  assisted  yesterday,  may 
be  called  upon  to  recite  in  review ;  any  want  of  atten- 
tion may  instantly  be  corrected,  etc.  The  recitation 
may  be  made  a  thorough  test,  and  the  pupils  be  in- 
cited to  a  faithful  preparation  of  the  entire  lesson. 

A  skillful  use  of  the  promiscuous  method  makes  the 

recitation    a    fine    mental    drill — an    excellent    mental 

"■ymnastic.     Suppose,    for  illustration,   that 

Mental  Drill.      ==>-'^  Vf         >  ' 

a  class  in  arithmetic,  containing  twenty 
pupils,  solves  twenty  problems  in  a  recitation.  If  the 
recitation  be  so  conducted  as  to  require  each  pupil  to 


THE  RECITATION.  1 8/ 

solve  but  one  problem,  the  recitation  would  necessitate 
but  twenty  mental  solutions.  But  by  the  use  of  the 
promiscuous  method  each  pupil  may  be  obliged  to 
solve  mentally  all  of  the  twenty  problems,  and  the 
recitation  would  thus  necessitate  four  Jinndred  mental 
solutions. 

The  promiscuous  method  is  less  rapid  than  the  con- 
secutive, it  is  not  so  easy  for  the  teacher,  and  it  re- 
quires very  skillful  use  to  afford  pupils  an 
equal  opportunity  to  recite.  This  last  de- 
fect is  most  serious  in  large  classes,  the  teacher  being 
liable  to  omit  some  of  the  pupils.  The  writer  has 
known  classes  in  which  it  often  happened  that  some 
of  the  pupils  did  not  have  an  opportunity  to  recite 
for  several  successive  recitations.  The  result  was  a 
loss  of  interest  on  the  part  of  the  omitted  pupils,  and 
a  neglect  of  study.  Few  pupils  will  thoroughly  pre- 
pare lessons,  if  there  is  even  a  probability  that  they  will 
not  be  called  on  to  recite.  The  most  faithful  study  is 
secured  when  every  recitation  tests  the  preparation  of 
each  pupil  in  the  class.  Some  teachers  are  uncon- 
sciously in  the  habit  of  assigning  the  greater  portion 
of  a  recitation  to  a  few  pupils,  omitting  almost  wholly 
the  others.  Easy  and  superficial  teachers  are  apt  to 
assign  the  more  difficult  questions  or  topics  to  the 
brighter  pupils,  and  the  easier  to  the  dull  and  back- 
ward. A  "severely  thorough"  teacher,  on  the  con- 
trary, is  liable  to  fall  into  the  opposite  error,  and 
overwhelm  the  more  backward  pupils  with  all  the 
difficulties  of  the  lesson,  and  most  of  the  reciting. 
Dull  pupils  are  sometimes  omitted  purposely,  this  be- 
ing most  likely  to  occur  when  visitors  are  present,  as 
in  public  examinations.     The  temptation  on  such  oc- 


1 88  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

casions  to  call  only  on  the  brightest  pupil  is  too  strong 
for  many  weak  teachers  to  resist,  and,  for  this  reason, 
the  public  exercises  in  our  schools  are  sometimes 
worse  than  shams. 

Various  devices  have  been  resorted  to  by  teasners 

to  obviate  the  defects  of  the  promiscuous  method  and 

increase  their  skill  in  its  use.     One  of  these 

Devices, 

is  to  write  the  name  or  number  of  each 
pupil  in  a  class  on  a  small  card,  thus  using  as  many 
cards  as  there  are  pupils.  At  each  recitation  the  cards 
are  mixed  and  dropped  in  a  box,  or  put  in  a  pile  on 
the  table.  The  pupils  to  recite  are  selected  by  taking 
cards  from  box  or  pile.  The  writer  obtained  this  plan 
from  Horace  Mann.  It  works  quite  well  in  advanced 
classes  with  long  recitations,  and  especially  if  the 
teacher  frequently  takes  a  card  from  those  already  used, 
thus  holding  the  attention  of  those  who  have  recited. 

Another  device  is  to  put  all  the  numbers  of  the 
members  of  the  class  on  one  card,  arranging  the  same, 
in  the  form  of  some  geometrical  figure  which  will  per- 
mit the  calling  of  the  numbers  on  successive  days  in 
different  orders.  The  writer  devised  and  used  this 
plan  years  ago  with  great  satisfaction.  It  leaves  the 
teacher  free  to  sit  or  stand  during  the  recitation,  to 
move  about  the  room  and  occupy  different  positions. 
When  the  recitation  closes,  the  teacher  knows  what 
pupils,  if  any,  have  been  omitted,  and  by  frequently 
calling  on  pupils  without  reference  to  the  card,  the 
attention  of  the  entire  class  is  held. 

But  since  the  promiscuous  and  consecutive  methods 
supplement  each  other,  the  easiest  plan  of  avoiding 
their  respective  defects  is  to  combine  them.     This  may 


THE  RECITATION.  1 89 

be  done  by  permitting  pupils  to  recite  by  turn  except 
when  the  teacher  designates  another  pupil.  If  these 
exceptions  are  sufficiently  numerous,  the  union  of 
attention  of  the  class  will  be  as  universally  Methods, 
held  as  by  the  promiscuous  method.  The  most  skill- 
ful teacher  of  oral  spelling  we  have  ever  known,  com- 
bined these  methods.  The  words  passed  rapidly  down 
her  class  except  when  she  "threw"  pronounced  words 
to  other  pupils,  and  this  was  done  so  frequently  and 
skillfully  that  no  pupil  felt  safe  in  taking  his  eye  from 
her.  When  the  recitation  closed,  every  pupil  had 
been  tested,  and  the  poor  spellers  and  the  listless, 
idle,  and  careless  had  received  special  attention.  A 
little  practice  will  enable  any  skillful  teacher  to  com- 
bine these  methods  successfully. 

III.    The  Simultaneous  Method. 

There  may  be  a  doubt  respecting  the  propriety  of 
including  the  concert  method  among  the  methods  of 
testing  pupils.  At  best,  it  can  only  test  Defects  as  a 
a  class  as  a  whole,  and,  to  make  this  possi-  '^^^'• 
ble,  there  must  be  verbal  uniformity  in  the  answers, 
and  then  it  becomes  a  test  of  verbal  memory — not 
of  the  understanding.  Even  within  these  narrow  limits, 
concert  reciting  is  a  poor  test,  since  it  fails  to  show 
how  many  or  what  pupils  possess  the  knowledge  or 
skill  tested.  The  responses  of  the  class  may  be  led 
by  a  few  pupils,  even  by  one  pupil,  and  the  rest  may 
mechanically  follow,  and  all  this  may  be  done  in  such 
a  way  as  to  make  it  difficult  to  detect  the  leadership 
or  the  following.  Many  teachers  have  been  thus  de- 
ceived respecting  the   progress  made  by  their  pupils. 


190  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

They  have  accepted  the  ghb  and  confident  responses 
of  their  classes  in  concert  as  evidence  that  the  indi- 
vidual pupils  actually  possess  the  knowledge  thus  ex- 
pressed ;  and  not  a  few  teachers,  who  use  the  method 
much,  have  been  surprised  at  the  disclosures  of  igno- 
rance made  by  written  tests,  or  by  the  oral  examina- 
tion of  individual  pupils.*  The  truth  is  that  the 
concert  method  has  a  very  limited  use  as  a  means  of 
testinsf. 


It  may  be  added  that  the  above  methods  of  con- 
ducting recitations  may  be  successfully  used,  with  some 
Their  Use  in    modifications,    in   giving   lessons   (p.    166). 

Lessons.  -pj-jg  esscutial  thing  in  all  class  exercises  is 
to  arouse  the  interest  and  hold  the  attention  of  all  the 
pupils.  This  can  only  be  done  by  occasioning  the 
continued  and  constant  activity  of  the  minds  of  the  pu- 
pils. It  is  not  what  the  teacher  says  or  does  that  tells, 
but  what  the  pupils  learn,  and  they  can  only  learn 
by  their  own  activity  (p.  in).  The  concert  method 
may  be  sometimes  used  with  good  results  in  class  in- 
struction and  drill  exercises.  It  may  be  occasionally 
employed  to  arouse  attention  and  awaken  interest,  and 
also  to  fix  a  truth,  and  especially  its  exact  statement. 


*  This  weakness  of  the  concert  method  was  fully  disclosed  in  the 
once  famous  Lancasterian  schools,  in  which  large  classes  of  children 
were  instructed,  drilled,  and  tested  in  concert.  They  made  surpris- 
ing progress  apparently,  their  noisy  responses  indicating  almost 
universal  knowledge  of  what  had  been  often  repeated.  The  sug- 
gestion that  the  pupils  be  individually  tested  was  acted  upon,  and  the 
results  showed  that  the  great  majority  of  the  pupils  could  not  even 
repeat  alone  what  they  so  glibly  recited  together,  and  that  they 
were  wofully  ignorant  of  what  had  been  verbally  repeated.  The 
popularity  of  these  schools  soon  declined. 


THE  RECITATION.  I9I 

in  the  memory.  It  may  be  generally  employed  in 
drills  in  singing,  and,  to  a  limited  extent,  in  reading 
drills.  When  a  sentence  is  clearly  understood,  there 
is  often  great  advantage  in  having  a  class  give  vocal 
expression  to  the  thought  in  concert.  It  is  often  pos- 
sible thus  to  secure  a  free  and  clear  expression,  not 
otherwise  possible  to  secure  from  some  of  the  pupils. 
The  voices  of  other  pupils  not  only  guide  and  support 
the  timid  and  hesitating,  but,  what  is  more  important, 
they  are  thus  inspired  with  confidence  and  can  do 
their  best,  as  is  also  true  in  the  singing  of  difficult 
passages.  But  the  concert  drill  should  be  sparingly 
used  even  in  teaching  reading,  and  it  should  always 
be  accompanied  and  succeeded  by  the  individual  drill. 

But  the  concert  method  has  been  so  widely  and 
sadly  abused  in  elementary  training  that  it  would  seem 
wise  to  discountenance  its  use  altogether.  Abuse  of  con- 
The  writer  has  visited  primary  schools  in  '^^'"^  Method, 
which  all  the  lessons  in  reading  and  spelling,  tables 
of  numbers,  of  weights  and  measures,  etc.,  were  re- 
cited not  only  in  concert,  but  in  sing-song,  quasi- 
musical  tones,  at  once  distressing  to  the  ear  and 
stupefying  to  the  mind.  There  is  no  speedier  process 
for  reducing  a  bright  child  to  stupidity  than  a  vigorous 
use  of  the  hum -drum  concert  drilling,  which  was  once 
so  nearly  universal  in  primary  schools,  even  in  large 
cities.  A  few  years  ago  a  friend,  who  had  musical 
gifts,  visited  the  primary  schools  in  one  of  the  largest 
cities  in  the  country,  and  indicated  the  tones  used  in 
different  concert  exercises  by  a  semi-musical  notation! 

It  seems  unnecessary  to  add  that  much  concert  re- 
citing injures  the  voice,  both  for  speaking  and  singing. 
The  resulting   "primary  tone,"  as  it  has  been  called, 


192  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

is  often  heard  in  the  pulpit,  at  the  bar,  and  in  the 
forum,  and  much  of  the  best  drilling  in  reading  in  the 
upper  grades  of  school  aims  to  overcome  or  remove 
the  bad  habits  acquired  in  the  lower.  If  concert  ex- 
ercises are  ever  employed,  special  pains  should  be 
taken  to  keep  the  tones  natural  and  pleasant.  It  is  in 
place  to  add  that  the  boisterous,  discordant  yelling, 
which  is  encouraged  in  too  many  schools  as  "singing," 
is  injurious  to  the  singing  voice  and  subversive  of 
musical  taste.  There  should  be  increasing  attention 
given  in  elementary  schools  to  the  quality  of  children's 
voices  both  in  reading  and  singing. 


WRIT  TEN  EXAMINATIONS.  1 93 


WRITTEN  EXAMINATIONS. 

There  has  been  no  change  in  school  training  in  the 
past  thirty  years  more  marked  or  general  than  the  use 
of  written  exercises.  This  change  has  oc-  written 
curred  not  only  in  the  higher  grades  of  Exercises, 
school,  but  even  more  notably  in  elementary  schools. 
Pupils  are  now  very  generally  taught  to  write  from 
the  beginning  of  the  school  course,  several  years  earlier 
than  was  formerly  permitted ;  and  the  skill  in  writing, 
thus  early  acquired,  is  utilized  in  many  ways.  Writ- 
ing in  some  form  accompanies  and  largely  enters  into 
the  training  in  reading,  spelling,  language,  numbers, 
and  nearly  all  other  branches.  Skill  in  writing  is  no 
longer  the  end  of  the  writing  exercises  in  school,  but 
it  has  become  a  means  of  training — an  important 
means  in  nearly  all  school  work.  The  slate  and  pen- 
cil are  now  a  necessary  part  of  the  primary  pupil's 
outfit,  and  their  use  is  required  not  only  in  the  work 
and  study  of  pupils  in  their  seats,  but  also  in  class 
exercises. 

It  is  becoming  a  somewhat  serious  question,  one 
demanding  careful  attention,  whether  written  work  has 
not  too  large  a  place  in  some  elementary  schools,  not 
only  for  the  best  mental  training,  but  more  especially 
for  the  physical  health  of  pupils.  The  writer  shares 
the  fear,  expressed  by  many  thoughtful  observers,  that 
the  pupils  in  many  graded  schools  spend  too  much 
time  in  the  use  of  pencil  and  pen.  It  is  believed  that 
the  almost  constant  use  of  slate  and  pencil  for  several 
hours  daily  is  a  serious  tax   on   the   nervous  system 

W.  p.— 17. 


1 94  ELEMENTS  OF  FED  A  GOGV. 

of  young  children  and  that  the  cramped  positions,  thus 
occasioned,  interfere  with  the  free  action  of  the  lungs 
and  other  vital  organs.  It  is  certainly  a  serious  mis- 
take to  keep  a  young  child  at  work  Avith  slate  and 
pencil  for  the  sake  of  keeping  him  busy — the  usual  plea 
of  teachers  when  their  attention  is  called  to  this  evil. 
It  is  not  too  much  to  claim  that  the  total  amount  of 
slate  or  tablet  work  required  of  primary  pupils  should 
not  exceed  two  hours  a  day — divided  into,  say  four, 
separate  periods  of  not  more  than  thirty  minutes  each ; 
and  that  intermediate  pupils  should  not  use  pencil  and 
pen  over  three  to  four  hours  daily,  and  this  use  should 
not  be  continuous.  The  amount  of  written  work  may 
properly  increase  as  pupils  pass  up  in  the  grades. 

There  is  certainly  no  justification  for  the  require- 
ments of  many  schools  that  nearly  all  lessons  shall  be 
writin  in  Prepared  in  writing.  It  is  the  practice  in 
Preparing  somc  schools  to  rcquirc  pupils  to  write  out 
(often  in  set  forms)  the  analyses  of  mental 
problems  in  arithmetic  and  sentences  in  grammar,  rules 
and  definitions  in  both,  tabulated  or  outline  descrip- 
tions in  geography,  etc.,  and  all  this  in  addition  to 
language  exercises,  written  work  in  arithmetic,  spelling, 
etc.  The  amount  of  written  work  thus  annually  re- 
quired of  pupils  in  the  mastery  of  the  several  branches, 
would  make  a  bulky  book,  if  printed.  Writing  has 
a  proper  and  useful  place  in  school  work,  and  the 
writing  out  of  an  analysis,  rule,  or  outline,  may  be 
wisely  required  as  a  part  of  the  preparation  of  a  given 
lesson,  but  a  distinction  should  be  made  between  the 
use  of  a  given  means  to  secure  a  special  result,  and 
the  habitual  use  of  such  means  as  a  part  of  a  general 
method    of  work.      The    amount    of  written    work    re- 


IVRI T  TEN  EXAM  IN  A  TIONS.  1 9  5 

quired  of  pupils  in  a  given  branch  should  have  in- 
telligent reference  to  the  amount  required  in  other 
branches.  The  total  energy  usable  in  writing  should 
certainly  be  considered  when  assigning  written  exer- 
cises to  children.  A  keen  observer  need  not  remain 
long  in  some  of  our  schools  to  observe  the  "fidgety" 
condition  of  a  number  of  the  pupils  while  preparing 
written  work,  and  many  thoughtful  parents  are  watch- 
ing with  solicitude  the  home  study  of  their  children, 
who  sometimes  act  as  if  they  would  "fly  to  pieces," 
as  a  nervous  girl  once  expressed  her  feeling.  It  is 
certainly  high  time  to  call  the  attention  of  superin- 
tendents and  teachers  to  the  dangers  involved  in  the 
indiscriminate  and  excessive  use  of  pen  and  pencil  in 
elementary  schools. 

With  this  caution  respecting  the  overuse,  if  not 
abuse,  of  the  pen  in  school  work,  wc  now  proceed  to 
consider  the  place  and  value  of  the  xvritteji  written 
test.  It  may  be  used,  to  a  limited  extent,  Tests, 
in  the  daily  recitation,  and  increasingly  as  we  ascend  in 
the  grades.  The  written  test  has  long  been  used  in 
teaching  spelling,  the  written  processes  of  arithmetic 
and  algebra,  and  it  is  now  increasingly  used  in  teach- 
ing language  and  other  branches.  It  may  be  effect- 
ively used  in  final  reviews  where  the  recitation  needs 
to  be  more  incisive  than  comprehensive.  What  are 
usually  called  "written  reviews"  are  only  written  tests 
applied  to  the  successive  portions  of  a  subject,  gone 
over  more  thoroughly  and  fully  when  advancing.  The 
topic  method  of  reviewing  subjects  affords  an  excellent 
opportunity  for  this  use  of  written  tests,  especially  in 
the  reproduction  of  analytic  outlines  to  serve  as  a  basis 
for  the  fuller  oral  recitation. 


1 96  ELEMEIVTS  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 

But  the  written  test  may  be  wisely  used  as  a  final 

review  of  a  subdivision  of  a  branch  of  study.     Nearly 

all  the  branches  of  knowledge  taught  in   the   schools 

are  composed   of  several   more  or  less   closely  related 

^.    ,  „         subjects,    which  are  sufficiently  distinct  to 

Final  Re-  J  '  •'  _ 

views-Sub-  permit  their  successive  mastery.  Arithme- 
divisions.  ^.^^  ^^^  example,  includes  the  several  fun- 
damental rules,  fractions,  decimal  fractions,  United 
States  money,  denominate  numbers,  percentage,  etc., 
and  like  subdivisions  are  found  in  geography,  Enghsh 
grammar,  history,  physiology,  etc.  When  pupils  have 
gone  over  one  of  these  subdivisions,  and  are  supposed 
to  be  well  prepared  to  advance  to  the  succeeding  one, 
it  is  very  profitable  to  subject  them  to  a  searching 
written  examination,  and  the  same  is  true  when  they 
have  completed  a  branch  of  study.  Such  tests  afford 
pupils  a  tangible  and  reliable  measure  of  their  progress 
and  condition — an  important  assistance.  It  is  a  com- 
Faiiingof  mon  failing  of  pupils  to  overestimate  their 
Pupils.  acquirements,  and  this  is  true  even  when 
their  knowledge  and  power  are  subjected  to  searching 
oral  tests  in  the  recitation.  The  pupil  who  fails  in  an 
oral  test,  may  comfort  himself  with  the  belief  that  his 
classmates  would  likewise  have  failed  on  the  same  test, 
but  there  is  no  opportunity  for  such  delusion  in  the 
written  examination,  in  which  all  pupils  have  the  same 
tests,  and,  when  strict  honesty  is  secured,  an  equal 
opportunity  to  meet  them. 

But  this  failing  is  not  confined  to  pupils.     Teachers 

as  a  class  overestimate  the  progress   of  their  pupils, 

Failing  of*    and    the   more   superficial   the  teacher  the 

Teachers,      greater  this   failing.      Written  tests  greatly 

assist  the  teacher  in  correcting  this  tendency.     They 


WRITTEN  EXAMINATIONS.  1 97 

not  only  disclose  the  actual  condition  of  his  pupils, 
but  defects  in  his  teaching,  not  revealed  even  by  the 
recitation  —  and  this  is  specially  true  when  the  teacher 
has  not  prepared  the  questions  submitted  as  tests. 
What  an  eye-opener  a  searching  written  examination 
would  be  in  schools  where  teachers  talk  and  explain 
much,  and  the  pupils  recite  very  little ;  where  the  in- 
struction is  given  largely  in  the  form  of  running  talks 
without  a  halt  to  test  results ! 

It  is  thus  seen  that  the  written  test  may  be  wisely 
and  profitably  used  in  recitations  in  spelling  and  arith- 
metic, and,  to  a  limited  extent,  in  other  uses  and 
branches,  especially  in  reviews,  and  that  it  wn"te°n 
may  be  used,  with  special  advantage,  at  the  Tests, 
completion  of  the  several  subdivisions  of  all  branches 
of  study,  and  at  the  completion  of  each  branch. 
When  thus  used  as  an  aid  to  teaching  and  study,  the 
written  test  has  several  special  advantages.  It  is  more 
impartial  than  the  oral  test,  since  it  gives  all  the  pupils 
the  same  tests  and  an  equal  opportunity  to  meet  them ; 
its  results  are  more  tangible  and  reliable ;  it  discloses 
more  accurately  the  comparative  progress  of  the  dif- 
ferent pupils,  information  of  value  to  the  teacher ;  it 
reveals  more  clearly  defects  in  teaching  and  study, 
and  thus  assists  in  their  correction  ;  it  emphasizes  more 
distinctly  the  importance  of  accuracy  and  fullness  in 
the  expression  of  knowledge ;  it  reveals  more  fully 
than  the  ordinary  language  exercise  the  ability  of  the 
pupil  to  write  correctly  when  his  attention  is  directed 
to  the  thought  or  subject-matter;  it  is  at  least  an  equal 
test  of  the  thought- power  or  intelligence  of  pupils, 
since  tljis  result,  in  both  methods,  is  dependent  uj)on 
the  nature  of  the  tests;   and,    lastly,   the  certaint}'  of 


198  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

the  coming  written  test  affords  a  healthy  stimuhrs  to 
pupils,  increasing  their  attention  to  instruction,  and 
their  efforts  to  master  the  subjects  taught.  It  is,  of 
course,  possible  for  a  teacher  to  neglect  or  slight  the 
recitation  proper,  and  make  a  hobby  of  the  written 
examination,  a  frightful  bugbear  to  sensitive  pupils, 
and  the  source  of  rivalry,  worry,  overstudy,  and  other 
evils ;  but  we  are  now  considering  the  written  test, 
not  as  a  substitute  for  the  oral  test,  but  as  supple- 
menting it  in  the  current  work  of  the  school,  and  used 
in  the  same  spirit  and  with  equal  common  sense. 
When  thus  used,  the  written  test  is  a  most  valuable 
means  of  school  training.  It  is  not  only  in  harmony 
with  the  freest  and  most  rational  teaching,  but  may 
be  made  a  valuable  aid  to  such  teaching — a  fact  at- 
tested by  the  experience  of  the  most  progressive  and 
skillful  teachers  of  the  country. 

It  seems  unnecessary  to  add  that  it  can  not  be  made 
a  universal  test.  It  can  not  test  power  or  skill  which 
is  expressed  by  the  voice,  as  in  reading  and  singing, 
and  it  can  not  measure  the  power  of  the  conscience 
and  other  moral  forces  in  the  life.  Its  use  has  other 
obvious  limitations. 


We  arc  now  prepared  to  consider  a  related  but  a 
very  different  question  ;  viz,  the  propriety  of  making  the 
results  of  zvrittcii  examinations  the  basis  for  the  bestozv- 
ment  of  scholastic  rezvards  and  honors,  for  the  promotion 
and  classification  of  pupils,  and  for  determi?iing  the  com- 
parative standi)ig  or  success  of  schools  and  teachers. 

As  soon  as  the  value  of  the  written  test  as  a.  means 
of  ascertaining   the   attainments  of  pupils  was   deter- 


IVm  T  TEN  EX  AM  IN  A  TIONS.  1 99 

mined,  it  was  widely  and  increasingly  adopted  by 
boards  of  education  and  superintendents  as  a  basis  for 
one  or  more  of  the  above  ends,  and  espe-  written  Ex- 
cially  for  the  promotion  of  pupils.  In  some  aminatiors. 
schools,  promotions  were  made  on  the  results  of  an 
annual  examination,  this  being  generally  true  of  pro- 
motions to  the  high  school ;  in  other  schools  three 
such  examinations  were  held  each  year,  one  at  the 
close  of  each  term ;  other  schools  had  six  examinations 
annually,  one  near  the  middle  and  one  at  the  close  of 
each  term ;  and  not  a  few  schools  adopted  the  plan  of 
monthly  examinations,  with  a  general  examination  at 
the  close  of  the  year.  Whatever  the  number  of  ex- 
aminations held,  the  results  were  generally  estimated 
on  a  scale  of  i  to  100  and  tabulated.  These  "per 
cent  tables,"  as  they  are  widely  called,  were  made  the 
basis  of  the  promotion  and  classification  of  pupils,  often 
the  only  basis,  and  in  many  cities  and  towns  they 
were  used  as  a  means  of  comparing  schools  and  teach- 
ers. It  was  once  not  an  uncommon  thing  for  superin- 
tendents to  publish  the  percentages  of  correct  answers 
credited  the  individual  pupils,  and  more  frequently  the 
average  percentages  of  classes  in  the  several  schools. 
These  tables  thus  came  under  the  inspection  of  the 
patrons  of  the  schools  and  others  interested  in  them, 
and  thus  became  a  sort  of  public  standard  for  deter- 
mining the  efficiency  of  teachers. 

No  one  familiar  with  graded  schools  in    cities    need 
be  told  that  these  several  uses  of  the  written  examina- 
tions   (especially   the    last)    have  been   the      Resulting 
prolific  source  of  bitter  jealousies  and  rival-        ^^''^• 
ries  between  schools  and  teachers,  and  that  they  have 
otherwise  been  attended  by  serious  evils.      They  have 


200  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

perverted  the  best  efforts  of  teachers,  and  narrowed 
and  grooved  their  instruction;  they  have  occasioned 
and  made  well-nigh  imperative  the  use  of  mechanical 
and  rote  methods  of  teaching ;  they  have  occasioned 
cramming  and  the  most  vicious  habits  of  study ;  they 
have  caused  much  of  the  overpressure  charged  upon 
the  schools,  some  of  which  is  real ;  they  have  tempted 
both  teachers  and  pupils  to  dishonesty;  and,  last  but 
not  least,  they  have  permitted  a  mechanical  method 
of  school  supervision. 

It  is  not  asserted  that  these  results,  especially  in 
the  degree  here  indicated,  have  universally  attended 
the  adoption  of  the  "examination  system."  These 
tendencies  have  been  more  or  less  effectively  resisted 
by  superintendents  and  teachers,  and  they  have  been 
measurably  offset,  in  some  instances,  by  other  meas- 
ures, as  the  considering  of  the  recitation  record  of 
pupils;  but  the  testimony  of  educators,  competent  to 
speak,  confirms  the  writer's  experience  and  observa- 
tion, and  shows  that  the  above  indictment  of  the 
system,  when  used  for  the  purposes  named,  is  sub- 
stantially true.  In  the  very  nature  of  things  the 
coming  examination  with  such  consequences  must 
largely  determine  the  character  of  the  prior  teaching 
and  study.  Few  teachers  can  resist  such  an  influ- 
ence, and,  in  spite  of  it,  teach  according  to  their 
better  knowledge  and  judgment.  They  can  not  feel 
free,  if  they  would.  The  coming  ordeal  fetters  them 
more  or  less,  whatever  may  be  their  resolutions,  and 
many  teachers  submit  to  it  without  resistance ;  and 
this  is  sometimes  true  of  teachers  who  have  been 
specially  trained  in  normal  schools,  and  are  conscious 
of  the  power  to   do   much   better  work.     They  shut 


WRITTEN  EXAMINATIONS.  20I 

their    eyes    to   the   needs  of  the   pupil  and   put  their 
strength  into  what  will  "count"  in  the  examination. 

The  principal  of  the  first  grammar  school  in  one  of 
the  largest  cities  in  the  country  once  said, 

°  _  _  -^  niustrations. 

in  response   to   the    inquiry  why   so    much 

time    was    devoted    to    the    memorizing    of    dates    in 

history  and  rules  in  mensuration : 

"My  success  as  a  teacher  is  measured  by  the  per  cent  of  correct 
answers  my  pupils  give  to  the  series  of  questions  submitted  in  the 
examinations  for  promotion  to  the  high  school.  Whatever  qualifi- 
cations these  tests  call  for  I  must  produce  or  fail.  I  can  not  stop 
to  inquire  whether  my  instruction  is  right  or  wrong.  /  must  pre- 
pare my  wares  for  the  market.'''' 

I  have  seen  blackboards  covered  with  "probable" 
questions,  and  classes  meeting  before  and  after  school, 
to  be  crammed  with  set  answers  to  them,  as  a  prep- 
aration for  a  test  examination.*  I  have  known  classes 
to  memorize  the  names  of  all  the  bones  in  the  human 
body,  hundreds  of  dates  in  American  history,  and 
scores  of  the  mechanical  processes  of  mensuration, 
because  these  things  were  known  hobbies  of  the  ques- 


*  Supt.  Henry  F.  Harrington,  of  Massachusetts,  a  competent  wit- 
ness, as  well  as  one  of  the  most  thoughtful  of  educators,  states  it  as 
a  fact  within  his  knowledge,  that  "grammar-school  masters,  where 
written  examinations,  tested  by  per  cents,  are  in  vogue  to  determine 
admissions  to  the  high  schools,  systematically  exchange  with  each 
other  the  list  of  questions  which,  from  time  to  time,  are  propounded 
by  several  school  committees  or  superintendents  for  those  examina- 
tions, and  paste  them  into  scrap  books;  then  they  put  their  long- 
suffering  pupils  through  the  whole  collection,  and  it  is  cram,  cram, 
cram,  until  every  unwonted  form  of  question  has  been  tried  upon 
them,  and  its  answer  drilled  into  their  memories,  so  that  no  novelty 
shall  be  sprung  upon  them  when  the  next  corresponding  ordeal 
arrives." 


202  EL  EM  EN  TS  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 

tlon-maker.  I  have  known  the  instruction  of  an  en- 
tire corps  of  grammar-school  teachers  to  be  largely 
concentrated  on  three  or  four  test  studies  to  the  great 
neglect  of  other  branches  of  equal,  if  not  greater,  im- 
portance. I  have  known  principals  to  neglect  the 
lower  classes  in  their  schools,  and  give  their  time  and 
energies  for  weeks  to  the  special  drilling  of  their  first 
class,  the  one  to  be  subject  to  the  comparative  test  for 
admission  to  the  high  school,  and  these  pupils  were 
thus  fearfully  overtasked. 

It  is  generally  conceded  that  the  evil  effects  of  writ- 
ten examinations,  above  specified,  are  chiefly  due  either 
to   the  cJiaractcr  of  the   tests   or  to   the  uses 

Remedies.  -^ 

made  of  the  results,   and  this  fact  suggests 
certain  remedies. 

I.  Attention  has  already  been  called  to  the  fact  that 
school  instruction  and  study  are  never  much  wider  or 
Wide  and  bcttcr  than  the  tests  by  which  they  are 
Proper  Tests,  mcasured  (p.  148),  and  hence  the  impor- 
tance of  making  examination  tests  as  wide  as  the  ap- 
proved course  of  instruction,  and,  to  this  end,  both 
oral  and  written  tests  must  be  employed,  the  one 
supplementing  the  other.  The  questions  employed 
should  be  a  test  of  the  pupil's  knowledge  of  subjects, 
and  not  of  his  ability  to  repeat  words — a  test  of  his 
power  to  observe,  to  think,  to  reason,  and  to  express 
what  he  knows.  They  should  place  training  before 
cramming,  and  culture  before  technics.  It  is  true  that 
pupils  will  not  give  as  high  a  per  cent  of  correct  an- 
swers to  such  questions  as  they  would  were  the  tests 
confined  strictly  to  the  text- book,  every  one  falling 
within  a  prescribed  course  of  instruction ;  but  the 
examination    will  have   the   merit  of  determining  the 


WRITTEN  EXAMINATIONS.  203 

knowledge  and  power  of  pupils,  and  especially  of  in- 
dicating ivJiat  they  ojight  to  knozv.  When  classes  reach 
an  average  of  ninety  per  cent  and  upwards  in  a  writ- 
ten examination,  the  fact  may  be  usually  accepted  as 
evidence  that  both  tests  and  instruction  have  been 
grooved,  or  that  much  time  has  been  wasted  in  drilling 
the  more  backward  pupils  to  the  sacrifice  of  time  and 
opportunity  on  the  part  of  other  pupils. 

2.  Another  remedy  suggested  is  the  entire  giving 
up  of  the  practice  of  using  examination  results  to  com- 
pare schools  and  teachers.  An  observation  of  Non-comnar- 
this  practice  for  years  and  in  different  cities         '"s  of 

^  •    r      ^  i  •  Schools, 

has  satisfied  me  that  such  comparisons  are  Teachers,  and 
responsible  for  the  worst  results  of  the  ex-  P"p»'s. 
amination  system,  and  this  is  especially  true  when 
tables  of  correct  answers  are  published.  These  com^ 
parisons  put  a  premium  on  special  cramming  and  false 
teaching,  and  sometimes  on  dov/nright  dishonesty. 
They  are  generally  unjust  and  misleading.  The  teacher 
who  ignores  higher  motives  and  bends  all  his  energies 
to  secure  a  high  per  cent,  is  rewarded,  while  his  fel- 
low, who  scorns  to  degrade  his  high  calling  to  the 
preparing  of  "wares  for  the  market,"  may  be  dis- 
counted, if  not  condemned.  Besides,  there  is  often  a 
marked  difference  in  the  home  training  of  pupils  in 
the  different  school -districts  of  a  city,  in  the  number 
of  pupils  in  the  schools,  and  in  other  determining 
conditions  for  which  the  public,  and  even  school  offi- 
cers, make  no  allowance.  The  teachers  are  unjustly 
measured  by  the  per  cent  table. 

I  will  go  further  and  suggest  that  examination  re- 
sults should  not  be  used  for  the  public  comparison  of 
pupils.     They  are  chiefly  for  the  eye  of  the   teacher 


204  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

and  superintendent,  and  it  is  sufficient  if  each  pupil 
knows  the  results  of  his  own  effort.  It  is  the  practice 
in  some  schools  to  arrange  the  names  of  pupils  in  the 
order  of  their  per  cent  standings,  and  then  publicly 
read  the  list,  or  post  it  in  a  conspicuous  place.  I  have 
never  seen  this  done  without  feeling  that  the  vanity 
of  certain  pupils  was  unwisely  flattered,  and  the  feel- 
ings of  other  pupils  unjustly  wounded.  It  is  often 
true  that  pupils  who  stand  high  deserve  less  credit 
than  those  whose  standing  is  much  lower.  As  a  rule, 
examination  results  should  be  neither  publicly  an- 
nounced nor  posted. 

I  would  also  urge  that  teachers  should  not  use  a 
coming  examination  as  an  incentive  to  incite  their 
pupils  to  effort,  excepting,  possibly,  in  the  case  of 
indifferent  pupils,  and  then  privately.  The  nervous 
condition  of  pupils  on  reaching  an  examination  is  often 
the  result  of  the  teacher's  indiscretion  in  holding  it 
up  constantly  as  a  coming  ordeal,  in  talking  about 
"passing,"  "per  cents,"  etc.,  as  if  these  were  the 
supreme  ends  of  effort.  The  tendency  of  teachers  to 
use  a  coming  examination  as  a  whip  or  spur  to  urge 
their  pupils  to  greater  application  is  one  of  the  most 
serious  obstacles  to  be  overcome  in  the  use  of  the 
system.  A  reliance  on  such  a  help  is  a  misfortune 
for  the  teacher  and  a  wrong  to  the  pupil.  It  ought 
to  be  recognized  as  a  school  crime  for  a  teacher  thus 
to  allude  to  an  examination.  It  should  be  permitted 
to  come  unheralded.  There  should  be  no  fuss  over  it 
or  in  view  of  it. 

3.  My  next  suggestion  is  that  examination  results 
should  not  be  made  the  07ily,  if  the  chief,  basis  for  the 
pro7notion  of  pupils.      It  is  now  very  generally  conceded 


WRITTEX  EXAMINATIONS.  205 

that  a  pupil's  daily  success  in  school  work  should  be 
as  important  a  factor  in  determining  his  promotion 
as  the  results  of  one  or  more  stated  ex-  other  Bases 
aminations,  but  it  is  urged  by  some  that  °^  Promotion, 
the  examination  papers  are  the  best  possible  evi- 
dence of  such  daily  success  —  that  this  is  their  design 
and  import.  There  is  truth  as  well  as  force  in  this 
view.  The  results  of  a  proper  examination  will  fairly 
represent  the  recitation  success  of  three  fourths  of  the 
pupils  examined.  I  have  never  been  much  disap- 
pointed or  surprised  by  the  standing  of  my  pupils  in 
written  tests.  But  the  practical  difficulty  is  the  failure 
of  p2ipils  to  act  on  this  truth.  When  promotion  de- 
pends on  the  results  of  written  tests,  possibly  of  a 
single  test,  the  desire  to  stand  creditably  is  reinforced 
by  the  fear  of  a  failure  "to  pass,"  and,  as  a  result  of 
these  united  and  intensified  feelings,  there  is  nervous 
excitement,  morbid  anxiety,  overstudy,  cramming, 
and  other  evils.  These  results  would  be  largely  ob- 
viated if  the  pupils  knew  before  an  examination  that 
their  daily  success  in  study,  the  chief  factor  in  their 
promotion,  was  settled;  that  nothing  could  set  aside  or 
take  the  place  of  their  recitation  record.  Such  an 
assurance  as  this  would  make  the  examination  less  a 
bugbear  and  more  a  helpful  exercise,  less  a  deter- 
miner of  future  advantage  and  more  a  guide  and 
stimulus  to  future  effort. 

But  how  is  this  evidence  of  the  pupil's  daily  success 
to  be  obtained  prior  to   the   examination  ?     The  only 
answer  is,  by  the  recitation  ivitJi  its  searching     Recitation 
tests,   the   necessary  accompaniment   of  all       Record, 
successful  school  work  ;  and  this  brings  us  back  to  the 
importance  of  the   recitation   as  a  means  of  teaching. 


206  ELEMEN  TS  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 

It  is  only  necessary  to  consider  briefly  the  manner  in 
which  a  record  of  its  results  is  to  be  kept.  When 
the  teacher  is  competent  and  trustworthy,  such  a 
record  "keeps  itself."  The  character  of  the  pupil's 
daily  work  is  carried  in  memory,  and  judgment  is 
ready  at  any  time  to  render  a  verdict.  The  teacher 
who  can  teach  a  class  for  a  year  or  a  term  and  not 
know  the  comparative  success  of  the  pupils  in  it,  is  to 
be  pitied,  if  not  retired.  But  most  of  our  graded 
schools  are  under  more  or  less  direct  personal  super- 
vision. In  the  smaller  cities  this  work  is  done  by  the 
superintendent,  who  is  able  to  assist  the  teacher,  when 
necessary,  to  a  true  verdict,  and  the  numerous  tests 
to  which  the  pupils  are  subjected  from  term  to  term, 
afford  abundant  data  for  such  a  judgment.  In  large 
cities,  the  teachers  are  under  the  immediate  super- 
vision of  principals  or  local  superintendents,  who,  in 
turn,  are  under  the  leadership  of  the  general  superin- 
tendent. Under  these  conditions  there  ought  to  be 
little  difficulty  in  determining  the  recitation  success 
of  pupils,  at  least  so  far  as  this  may  be  necessary  to 
determine  their  right  to  promotion. 

I  hesitate  to  recommend  the  marking  of  recitations, 
since  this  so  seriously  curtails  the  freedom  and  power 
Marking  of  both  tcachcr  and  pupil,  and  so  strongly 
System,  tcnds  to  make  the  exercise  text-bookish 
and  narrow.  It  is  true  that  this  restraint  is  less  when 
the  marking  is  done  at  the  close  of  the  recitation,  but 
this  does  not  wholly  remove  the  evil,  since  the  thought 
of  the  record  is  present  to  both  teacher  and  pupil, 
and  thus  restrains  their  freedom.  At  the  best,  there 
is  little  personal  force  or  inspiration  in  a  testing  and 
recording  machine  (p.    175)- 


WRITTEN  EXAMINATIONS.  20/ 

In  my  later  teaching,  I  have  made  it  a  practice  to 
record  the  class  standing  of  students  at  the  close  of 
each  zveek  and  for  the  xvcck,  and  I  have  found  very 
little  difficulty  in  making  a  satisfactory  record.  The 
keeping  of  such  a  record  takes  comparatively  little 
time,  and,  what  is  important,  the  record  does  not  con- 
front me  in  the  recitation,  and  restrain  needed  free- 
dom and  enthusiasm.  A  weekly  record  of  recitations 
is  entirely  feasible  in  high  schools  and  colleges,  and  a 
monthly  record  in  elementary  schools. 

But  whatever  may  be  the  means  by  which  a  pupil's 
success  in  daily  work  is  arrived  at,  the  pupil  should 
know  whether  it  entitles  him,  so  far  as  it  goes,  to 
promotion.  It  is  neither  wise  nor  right  to  permit 
pupils  to  go  into  a  final  examination  with  the  feeling 
that  faithful  and  successful  work  will  count  for  naught, 
if  they  should  happen  to  fall  below  the  regulation 
"per  cent"  in  the  written  test. 

4.  The  above  suggestions  are  not  submitted  as  com- 
plete remedies  for  all  examination  ills,  and  so  I  feel 
constrained  to  add  another;  viz,  tJic  non-iise  Radical 
of  the  xvrittcn  examination  as  a  basis  for  tJie  Remedy. 
promotion  of  pupils  or  for  rezvards  of  any  kind.  This 
remedy,  taken  with  those  suggested  above,  is  radical 
and  comprehensive.  It  relegates  the  written  test  to 
the  domain  of  teaching  where  its  uses,  as  we  have 
seen,  are  many  and  important.  I  am  fully  satisfied 
that  the  instruction  and  training  in  many  schools,  es- 
pecially in  our  larger  cities,  are  in  such  deep  exam- 
ination ruts  that  no  remedy  will  suffice  but  the  non- 
use,  temporary  at  least,  of  the  system.  Its  evils  have 
become  chronic  and  self-perpetuating.  They  permeate 
the  schools,   and  only  a  radical  treatment  will  suffice. 


208  ELEiMENTS   OF   PEDAGOGY. 

It  is  admitted  that  a  good  degree  of  uniformity  of 
attainment  is  essential  to  the  proper  classification  of 
Uniformity  pupils,  but  it  is  believcd  that  this  can  be 
and  System,  gecurcd  without  the  use  of  stated  promotion 
examinations ;  and  if  there  should  be  some  loss  in  thor- 
oughness of  classification,  this  would  be  much  more  than 
made  good  by  desirable  gains  in  other  directions.  *  The 
most  pressing  need  of  many  deeply  rutted  schools  is 
deliverance  from  the  dominancy  of  routine  and  mech- 
anism, such  a  vigorous  shaking  up  as  will  prepare  the 
way  for  a  general  movement  away  from  rote  and  rut 
work  to  freer  and  more  rational  teaching  and  study, 
and  more  vital  and  inspiring  supervision.  If  in  this 
limbering  and  loosening  process,  the  "system"  should 
be  disturbed  a  little  and  some  items  in  its  elaborate 
courses  of  instruction  should  be  "knocked  into  pi," 
to  use  a  printer's  phrase,  no  serious  harm  would  be 
done,  and  especially  if  accompanied  by  an  inspiring 
call  of  teachers  to  higher  and  more  thoughtful  work. 
Uniformity  and  system  are  excellent,  but  in  education 
it  may  be  possible  to  have  too  much  of  these  good 
things.  A  little  loss  in  these  directions  would  not,  I 
am  sure,  cause  the  intelligent  patrons  of  the  schools 
to  mourn,  whatever  may  be  true  of  the  devoted  wor- 
shipers of  these  presiding  deities  of  the  modern  school. 
Besides,  whenever  the  point  of  danger  is  reached,  the 
written  examination  would  always  be  available  to 
check   looseness  and    restore   uniformity  and   system. 

*The  experience  of  a  considerable  number  of  cities,  with  excel- 
lent schools,  shows  that  pupils  can  be  safely  promoted  by  the  prin- 
cipal or  superintendent  on  the  judgment  of  teachers,  and  it  has 
been  suggested  that  when  a  teacher  is  in  doubt,  or  a  parent  feels 
that  injustice  has  been  done  in  the  non-promotion  of  his  child,  the 
case  can  readily  be  settled  by  subjecting  the  pupil  to  an  examination. 


WRITTEN  EXAMINATIONS.  2O9 

It  seems  unnecessary  to  add  that  it  is  not  proposed 
to  dispense  with  examinations  for  teaching  purposes ; 
i.  e.,  examinations  instituted  for  the  one  purpose  of 
testing  the  results  of  instruction  and  study  as  a  means 
of  improving  them.  The  remedy  proposed  is  the  non- 
use  of  the  results  of  stated  examinations  as  a  basis  for 
the  promotion  of  pupils,  not  the  non-use  of  teaching 
tests.  * 


*  When  this  book  was  written  (1886),  the  use  of  the  results  of 
stated  written  examinations  as  a  basis  for  the  promotion  of  pupils 
was  general  in  the  graded  schools  in  the  United  States.  At  this 
writing  (1893)  pupils  are  promoted  on  the  estimates  or  judgment  of 
teachers  in  many  cities,  including  nearly  a  score  of  the  largest  cities 
in  the  country;  and  many  other  cities  make  the  teacher's  judgment  a 
considerable,  if  not  chief,  element  in  the  promotion  basis.  The  testi- 
mony is  conclusive  that  the  non-use  of  promotion  examinations  has 
been  attended  with  a  gratifying  improvement  in  the  spirit  of  the 
schools,  in  less  mechanical  and  more  rational  teaching,  and  in  the 
attainment  of  better  results;  and,  where  the  estimate  plan  has  been 
intelligently  administered,  there  has  been  no  loss  in  classification. 

For  a  full  discussion  of  this  subject,  the  reader  is  referred  to  a 
monograph,  entitled  *'  Promotions  and  Examinations  in  Graded 
Schools,"  prepared  by  the  author  in  1891  for  the  United  States 
Bureau  of  Education.  This  monograph  will  be  sent  free  to  any  one 
who  may  apply  to  the  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education,  Washing, 
ton,  D.  C. 


W.  P.— 1£ 


210  ELEMENTS  OF  FED  A  G  0  G  V. 


THE  TEACHER'S  PREPARATION. 

All  that  has  been  said  respecting  the  principles  and 

methods    of  teaching    has     presupposed   the  presence 

of  a  skillful  and  wise  teacher.     A  method 

The  Teacher. 

is  but  an  orderly  mechanism ;  its  efficiency 
depends  on  what  the  teacher  puts  into  it,  and  a  teacher 
can  never  put  into  a  method  what  he  does  not  pos- 
sess. In  the  last  analysis,  the  vital  element  in  teaching 
is  the  teacher.  He  is  the  soul  of  his  methods  and 
measures.  If  he  is  weak,  they  will  be  weak ;  if  he  is 
potent,  they  will  be  potent.  It  follows  that  children 
can  not  be  properly  educated  by  going  through  the 
forms  of  a  philosophic  system  of  teaching.  The  knowl- 
edge to  be  taught  may  be  wisely  selected  and  ar- 
ranged, the  successive  steps  may  follow  each  other  in 
natural  order,  and  the  entire  mechanism  may  Avork 
with  beautiful  precision,  and  yet  if  the  whole  be  not 
vitalized  by  the  living  teacher,  the  system  will  be  a 
comparative  failure.  The  more  scientific  a  system  of 
teaching  may  be,  the  more  essential  is  the  teacher.  A 
routine  of  mere  book  lessons  may  be  conducted  by  a 
blind  plodder,  who  can  turn  a  recitation  crank,  but  a 
system  of  teaching  that  has  for  its  grand  aim  the  right 
unfolding  and  training  of  the  mind  and  heart,  requires 
the  insight,  the  invention,  the  skill,  the  inspiration  of 
a  master  in  the  teacher's  office.  We  have  been  slow 
to  learn  that  philosophic  methods  of  teaching  are  only 
practicable  to  those  who  have  some  insight  into  their 
guiding  principles. 


THE  TEACHER'S  PREPARATION.  2  I  I 

In  the  light  of  these  facts  it  is  obvious  that  the 
teacher  must  come  before  his  classes  prepared  to  meet 
the  high  requirements  of  his  art,  and  that  Daily 
this  involves  careful  preparation — a  prepa-  Preparation, 
ration  as  wide  as  his  duties.  It  should  include  not 
only  a  general  prior  preparation  for  the  teacher's  office, 
but  in  addition  a  daily  preparation  for  every  exercise. 
This  daily  preparation  is  quite  as  essential  for  the  rec- 
itation as  for  the  lesson,  and  the  highest  and  most 
fruitful  teaching  is  not  possible  without  it. 

The  teacher's  preparation  should  include  — 
I.    A   tJiorougJi   and  fresh   knowledge   of  the  sjihject- 
matter  of  the   lesson.      He   must   have   the   subject   in 
mind  not  in  dim  and  shadowy  outline,  but  „ 

■^  Knowledge  of 

in  bold  relief,  with  every  essential  fact  and  Subjects 
principle  clear  and  distinct.  His  knowl-  ^"^ 
edge  must  not  only  be  systematic,  hvA.  fresh — the  re- 
sult of  recent  study.  In  the  presence  of  his  class  the 
teacher  has  no  time  for  attempts  to  recall  the  half- 
forgotten  results  of  past  study,  or  to  pursue  some 
new  idea  or  suggestion  to  see  whether  it  be  truth  or 
fiction,  substance  or  shadow.  Every  power  and  energy 
of  his  soul  is  required  to  search  through  the  minds 
of  his  pupils,  to  test'  the  results  of  their  study,  and  so 
to  order  his  tests  as  to  make  the  pupils'  knowledge 
clearer,  deepen  their  impressions,  and  make  their  view 
of  the  subject  as  a  whole  more  distinct  and  permanent. 
All  this  requires  special  preparation — the  interesting, 
informing,  and  invigorating  of  the  mind  by  daily  study. 
A  young  teacher  once  asked  President  Garfield,  then 
of  Hiram  College,  the  secret  of  the  art  of  arousing 
and  holding  the  attention  of  pupils.  The  wise  answer 
was :    ' '  See  to  it  that  you  do  not  feed  your  pupils  on 


2  I  2  ELEMENTS  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 

cold  victuals.  Take  the  lesson  into  your  own  mind 
anew,  rethink  it,  and  then  serve  it  hot  and  steaming, 
and  your  pupils  will  have  an  appetite  for  your  in- 
struction," and  you  will  have  their  attention. 

When  pupils  use  a  particular  text- book  as  the  basis 
of  their  study,  the  teacher  must  make  himself  as  fa- 
Use  of  miliar  with  the  book  thus  used  as  he  desires 
Text-book.  ]^jg  pupils  to  be.  Otherwise  he  will  not  be 
able  to  give  needed  preparatory  instruction  wisely,  to 
assign  lessons  properly,  or  to  test  the  results  of  their 
study  in  the  most  effective  manner.  For  the  last  pur- 
pose, he  must  not  only  know  what  is  presented  in  the 
book  for  the  pupil's  mastery,  but  the  order  in  which 
it  is  presented.  It  is  not  meant  that  the  teacher 
should  slavishly  follow  this  order  in  unfolding  the  les- 
son, or  that  he  should  hold  the  pupil  to  the  mastery 
of  all  the  facts  presented.  Lessons  should  be  so  as- 
signed as  to  relieve  the  pupil  from  the  study  of  the 
unimportant  facts  which  crowd  so  many  text -books. 

As  a  rule  the  teacher's  knowledge  of  each  lesson 
should  be  so  familiar  and  accurate  that  he  does  not 
need  to  use  a  book  in  giving  instruction  or  in  con- 
ducting a  recitation.  The  justifiable  exceptions  to  this 
rule  are  in  exercises  in  reading,  spelling,  the  assigning 
of  problems,  etc.  —  exercises  in  which  the  text  must 
be  used  as  the  basis.  There  are  few  practices  in  our 
schools  more  pernicious  than  the  slavish  use  of  the 
book  in  teaching  pupils.  It  reduces  the  teacher  to  a 
sort  of  machine,  places  an  obstruction  between  him 
and  his  pupils,  represses  enthusiasm,  and  renders  the 
lesson  or  recitation  mechanical  and  lifeless.  A  depend- 
ence on  the  text  to  determine  the  correctness  of  the 
pupils'  answers    is  an    evidence    of  incompetency  too 


THE  TEACHER'S  PRErARATION.  213 

palpable  to  be  justified.  It  may  be  accepted  as  a 
general  fact  that  the  minimmn  of  a  teacher's  use  of  a 
book  in  giving  lessons  and  conducting  recitations  will 
be  the  viaxhmim  of  his  success.  The  teacher  should 
come  before  his  classes  with  a  full  mind,  a  free  hand, 
and  a  free  eye. 

2.  The  teacher's  special  preparation  must  also  in- 
clude the  determining  of  the  principles  to  be  observed 
and  the  methods  to  be  employed  in  each  lesson  Principles 
or  recitation.  All  that  has  been  said  in  the  *"^  Methods. 
preceding  pages  shows  that  the  teaching  of  pupils 
involves  a  clear  knowledge  of  their  mental  condition 
and  ability,  the  nature  of  the  knowledge  to  be  taught, 
the  proper  methods  of  presenting  such  knowledge  to 
the  mind,  the  drill  needed  to  deepen  the  impression 
and  impart  skill,  etc.  ;  and  it  follows  that  the  consid- 
eration of  these  and  other  questions  is  a  necessary 
part  of  the  preparation  required  to  teach  successfully 
a  given  subject,  or  to  conduct  any  teaching  exercise. 
It  is  not  possible  to  adopt  a  uniform  method  for  the 
teaching  of  the  successive  lessons  or  subjects  that 
make  up  a  branch  of  study.  Inductive  knowledge 
must  be  taught  in  one  way,  and  deductive  knowledge 
in  another.  One  lesson  is  best  taught  analytically, 
and  another  by  synthesis.  One  lesson  involves  pri- 
mary concepts  that  must  be  taught  objectively,  and 
another  involves  an  appeal  to  and  exercise  of  the 
imagination.  The  teacher  can  not  take  a  step  wisely 
until  he  knows  just  what  he  is  to  teach,  since  it  is 
only  in  the  light  of  this  knowledge  that  he  can  deter- 
mine the  particular  methods  to  be  employed.  There 
are  determining  questions  to  be  considered  in  connec- 
tion with  the  teaching  of  every  lesson,  and  these  can 


214  ELEMENTS  OF  FED  AGOG  Y. 

not  be  answered  once  for  all.  They  will  recur  every 
time  the  subject  is  to  be  taught,  and  with  varying 
answers,  for  conditions  not  only  change  but  insight 
and  skill  increase  from  day  to  day.  The  experience 
of  yesterday  throws  its  light  on  the  work  of  to-day 
and  the  preparation  for  to-morrow.  Skill  in  teaching 
can  only  be  acquired  by  practice  under  the  guidance 
of  knowledge,  and  this  guiding  knowledge  should  be 
widened  and  verified  by  daily  experience  and  study. 
Nor  can  the  teacher  in  his  preparation  overlook  those 
details  which  make  up  what  may  be  termed  the  mech- 
anism of  class  management,  as  the  best  mode  of  call- 
ing out  and  dismissing  a  class,  the  proper  position  for 
pupils  to  assumenvhen  reciting,  etc.,  etc. 

3.  When  teaching  involves  the  direction  of  book 
study  by  pupils  and  the  testing  of  results,  the  teach- 
Assignment  GTS  daily  preparation  must  determine  tJie 
of  Lessons,  pyopo'  assigHineut  of  Icssous — a  most  impor- 
tant duty.  Much  of  the  aimless  study  of  pupils  is  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  ends  to  be  reached  have  not  been 
clearly  set  before  the  mind.  The  knowing  of  what  to 
do  is  no  small  part  of  the  doing  of  it,  and  it  is  not 
much  too  strong  to  say  that  a  lesson  properly  assigned 
is  half  mastered.  The  writer  has  sometimes  gone  so 
far  as  to  claim  that  a  very  good  estimate  of  a  teacher's 
skill  can  be  based  on  the  manner  in  which  he  assigns 
lessons  or  tasks. 

The  proper  assignment  of  a  lesson  involves  'a  consid- 
eration of  ( I )  the  ability  and  advancement  of  a  class, 
(2)  the  time  available  for  study,  and  (3)  the  nature 
of  the  lesson.  The  frequent  assignment  of  lessons 
which  are  beyond  the  pupils'  ability  to  master,  is  sure 
to  break  down  the  spirit  of  study  in  any  school.      In 


TJIP.   TEACHER'S  PREPARATION.  215 

order  to  assign  a  lesson  properly  the  teacher  must 
know  what  it  contains,  and  be  able  to  estimate  both 
the  amount  and  degree  of  mental  effort  required  to 
master  it.  He  must  also  know  the  mental  condition 
of  his  pupils  and  the  time  which  they  can  conven- 
iently and  wisely  give  to  its  preparation.  Then  the 
lesson  should  be  assigned  definitely,  and  the  require- 
ments of  the  recitation  be  clearly  stated. 

It  may  be  added  that  a  faithful  daily  preparation  for 
class  exercises  will  increase  the  teacher's  personal  in- 
fluence, heighten  the  interest  and  effort  of  his  pupils, 
lighten  the  burden  of  their  government,  keep  the 
teacher's  mind  fresh  and  vigorous,  and  promote  his 
bodily  health.  It  is  believed  that  where  there  is  one 
teacher  in  our  schools  failing  in  health  on  account  of 
daily  preparation  for  teaching,  there  are  ten  teachers 
failing  for  the  want  of  it.  Worry  is  the  cause  of  more 
pale  faces  among  teachers  than  work,  and  preparation 
for  skillful  and  wise  teaching  is  a  good  recipe  for 
worry. 


METHODS    OF   TEACHING   READING, 

LANGUAGE,  GEOGRAPHY,  AND 

ARITHMETIC. 


\V.    P.-IQ. 


'217) 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING  SPECIAL 
BRANCHES. 


It  is  the  design  of  these  pages  to  present  methods 
of  teaching  particular  branches  as  practical  applica- 
tions and  illustrations  of  the  principles  and  general 
methods  of  teaching  previously  considered.  These 
special  methods  will  not  be  given  in  detail  for  teachers 
to  copy,  but  in  clear  outline  and  with  sufficient  full- 
ness to  guide  intelligent  teachers  in  determining  the 
details  of  instruction. 

READING. 

When  the  child  enters  school,  say  at  six  years  of 
age,  he  has  a  considerable  stock  of  concepts  and  ideas 
acquired  by  observation,  experience,  and  hrrme  in- 
struction, and  also  a  vocabulary  of  associated  words 
which  express  and  recall  this  knowledge.  He  has 
also  discerned  many  of  the  relations  between  known 
objects,  and  has  acquired  more  or  less  skill  in  ex- 
pressing these  facts  in  oral  language,  and  much 
greater  skill  in  apprehending  them  when  thus  ex- 
pressed by  others.  He  has  also  become  familiar  with 
many  spoken  words  which  either  do  not  express  any 
definite  concepts  or  ideas  or  are  associated  with  wrong 


220  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

ones  (page  88).  If  brought  up  in  an  intelligent 
family,  the  child  at  this  age  has  learned  nursery 
rhymes,  ditties,  passages  of  Scripture,  moral  maxims 
and  sayings,  prayers,  etc.,  all  of  which  have  given 
him  a  familiarity  with  many  words  in  combination 
which,  when  used  separately,  express  to  him  very 
vague  ideas,    if  any. 

It  is  thus  seen  that  the  child  enters  school  with  a 

stock  of  clear  concepts  and  ideas,  and  their  associated 

„  .  words,  but  possibly  with  a  still  larger  vo- 

Pnmary  i  I  J  o 

Pupil's        cabulary   of    words    which    are    either    not 

Condition.  .     ,       ,  -,11 

associated  with  clear  concepts  or  express 
wrong  ones ;  and  that  he  also  has  some  skill  in  the 
expression  of  what  he  knows  and  feels,  in  oral  lan- 
guage. 

It  seems  obvious  that  the  first  steps  taken  in  teach- 
ing a  child  to  read  should  recognize  the  above  facts, 
and  that  the  first  aim  should  be  to  teach  the  child  to 
recognize  by  the  eye  words  which  he  knows  by  the 
ear;  i.  c.,  to  know  words  3.s  fonns  which  he  already 
knows  as  sounds.  It  is  evident  that  the  task  of  asso- 
ciating the  printed  word  with  the  spoken  word,  so 
that  the  seeing  of  the  former  will  call  to  mind  the 
latter,  is  the  simplest  possible  when  the  spoken  word 
is  already  known  and  familiar. 

It  follows  that  the  first  duty  of  the  primary  teacher 
is  to  ascertain  the  mental  condition  and  knowledge  of 
Teacher's  her  pupils — to  learn  the  "contents"  of 
^"^y-  their  minds,  if  this  be  preferred — as  a 
starting-point  and  basis  for  their  instruction,  and,  in 
case  several  children  are  to  be  taught  together,  it  is 
important  to  ascertain  what  concepts  and  words  they 


READING.  221 

may  know  in  common;  and  just  here  the  teacher's 
chief  difficulty  begins.  The  children  who  sometimes 
crowd  into  a  primary  school,  represent  very  diverse 
surroundings  and  home  training.  Some  have  a  large 
vocabulary  of  words ;  others  a  meager  stock,  and 
these  the  simplest,  often  representing  blurred  con- 
cepts. Some  can  talk  intelligently  about  many  things ; 
others  have  the  ability  to  speak  but  a  few  simple  sen- 
tences. If  the  children  represent,  as  is  often  the 
case,  both  city  life  and  country  life,  their  differences 
in  knowledge  and  speecli  will  be  still  more  marked. 
The  country  child  will  know  many  objects  and  their 
names,  and  many  facts  concerning  these  objects,  of 
which  the  city  child  is  ignorant ;  and,  on  the  con- 
trary, the  city  child  will  have  a  stock  of  concepts, 
facts,  and  words,  of  which  the  country  child  knows 
nothing.  But  whatever  may  be  the  difficulties  in- 
volved, tJic  teacJicr  must  knozv  her  pupils  as  a  first  and 
necessary  condition  of  their  right  instruction. 

First  Steps  in  Reading. 

What  has  been  said  above  leads  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  first  lessons  in  reading  must  be  deter- 
mined by  the  living  teacher  in  view  of  the  Blackboard 
knowledge  and  condition  of  her  pupils.  Lessons, 
and,  to  this  end,  the  lessons  should  be  given  'by  the  use  of 
the  blackboard.  No  chart  or  primer  can  take  the  place 
of  crayon  and  board  in  these  beginning  exercises, 
and  the  only  wise  use  that  can  be  made  of  chart  or 
primer  is  to  supplement  the  board  lessons.  The  most 
of  the  current  charts  and  primers  were  prepared  from 
the  stand-point  of  the  country  child,  and,   as  a  result. 


222  ELEMENTS  OE  PEDAGOGY. 

they  contain  concepts  and  facts  quite  foreign  to  the 
child  whose  days  have  been  spent  in  the  city ;  and, 
when  this  is  not  the  case,  the  vocabulary  of  selected 
words  is  not  the  best  for  the  teacher's  purpose.  But 
were  the  charts  admirably  adapted  in  matter  to  the 
pupils,  there  are  still  good  reasons  for  the  use  of  the 
blackboard.  The  words  written  before  the  eyes  of 
pupils  have  an  interest  to  them  that  no  chart  words 
can  have,   and  they  are  more  easily  learned. 

The  use  of  the  blackboard  involves  the  question 
whether  print  or  script,  or  both,  should  be  used.  If 
neither  print-charts  nor  primer  is  to  be  used  for  a  few 
weeks,  it  would  seem  best  for  the  teacher  to  use 
script  in  her  blackboard  lessons,  and  to  teach  her 
pupils  from  the  start  to  write.  If  script-charts  are 
used,  the  pupils  should  write.  When  the  proper  time 
comes,  the  transition  from  script  to  print  can  be 
quickly  made,  as  many  experiments  fully  show,  the 
similarity  between  script  and  print  words  greatly  les- 
sening the  supposed  difficulty.  If,  however,  print- 
charts  or  primers  are  to  be  used  in  these  first  lessons, 
then  both  teacher  and  pupils  should  print,  the  reason 
beinc"  obvious. 


Words  exist  as  sounds  and  as  forms,  the  first  ap- 
pealing to  the  ear  and  the  second  to  the  eye,  and  the 
first  step  in  teaching  a  child  to  read  is  to  teach  him 
the  written  or  printed  forms  of  say  thirty  to  forty 
words  well  known  to  the  child  as  sounds  or  spoken 
words,  and  representing  clear  concepts  or  ideas.  The 
words  selected  for  this  purpose  should  be  the  names 
of   things,    actions,    and    other   phenomena   that    will 


READING.  223 

interest  the  child  and  thus  afford  a  basis  for  interest- 
ing talks  between  teacher  and  pupils.  It  is  not 
necessary  or  best  to  select  only  short  phonetic  words ; 
they  should  be  "children's  words."  The  thing  next 
to  be  done  is  to  associate  one  by  one  the  known 
spoken  words  with  the  unknown  written  words  or 
forms,  so  that  when  the  eye  sees  the  latter,  the  con- 
cept or  idea  of  the  former  and  the  related  object  will 
be  instantly  and  certainly  recalled. 

How  can  this  best  be  done  ?  The  spoken  words 
have  all  been  learned  by  the  child  as  wholes,  and  this 
fact  is  the  key  to  the  teaching  of  the  word 
written  words.  They  should  be  taught  as  Method. 
wholes  and  in  the  most  direct  and  simple  manner  possible. 
An  attempt  to  teach  them  through  their  elements, 
whether  sounds  or  letters,  makes  a  simple  process 
complex,  and  hinders  the  inseparable  association  of  the 
written  word  with  the  spoken  word  and  thus  with  the 
objects  which  they  denote.  Both  reason  and  ex- 
perience confirm  this  statement. 

If  the  words  to  be  taught  as  wholes  •  have  been 
wisely  selected,  there  will  be  no  necessity  of  present- 
ing the  actual  objects,  since  they  are  use  of 
already  inseparably  associated  with  the  objects, 
sounds,  but,  since  the  presence  of  the  object  is  always 
an  excitant  or  stimulus  to  the  mind,  it  may  be  well 
to  teach  each  written  word  by  first  presenting  the 
object  or  its  picture,  or  by  such  questions  or  conver- 
sation as  will  occasion  its  clear  recall  in  memory. 
This  will  make  the  concept  back  of  the  spoken  word 
vivid,  and  thus  greatly  assist  the  mind  in  associating 
the  same  with  the  written   word.     It  seems  to  me  to 


224  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

be  an  error  to  attempt  to  associate  the  object  directly 
and  immediately  with  the  written  word.  It  is  already 
associated  with  the  spoken  word,  and  the  natural  .pro- 
cedure is  to  use  the  spoken  word  in  associating  the 
object  with  the  written  word.  The  pupils  should 
speak  the  word  taught  before  it  is  written  by  the 
teacher  on  the  board,  and  thus  the  crayon  will  "  talk" 
after  the  pupils.  The  natural  order  of  these  steps  is 
(i)  the  concept  (object,  if  needed),  (2)  the  spoken 
word,  and  (3)  the  written  word.  If  the  concept  back 
of  the  spoken  word  be  not  clear  and  vivid,  the  object 
or  its  picture  should  be  presented. 

When  the  pupils  have  thus  been  taught  the  written 

word,  they  should  next  be  taught  to  write  it  on  their 

slates.      It   is   not   enough    for   a   child   to 

Writing.  /^ 

hear  a  spoken  word ;  he  must  also  speak 
it.  It  is,  in  like  manner,  not  enough  for  a  child  to 
see  a  written  word ;  he  must  also  write  it.  The  draw- 
ing or  making  of  the  form  not  only  makes  clear  but 
fixes  the  "picture"  of  it  in  the  mind.  This  involves 
the  teaching  of  young  pupils  to  write,  and  this  will  re- 
quire skill  on  the  part  of  the  teacher.  We  forbear 
to  make  any  suggestions. 

As  soon  as  two  or  more  words  that  can  be  com- 
bined in  a  phrase  or  sentence  have  been  taught,  they 
Words  should  be  thus  combined,  and  the  pupils 
Combined,  taught  to  read  the  resulting  phrase  or  sen- 
tence. The  articles  a,  an,  and  the  should  be  early 
taught  and  used  in  connection  with  names  of  things; 
as,  a  boy,  a  good  boy,  the  sun,  the  bright  sun,  an  ox, 
an  old  man,  etc.  The  pupils  should  be  trained  from 
the  first   to  speak   these  articles  as  if   they  were  un- 


READING.  225 

accented  syllables  of  the  words  with  which  they  are 
connected.  When  is  and  are,  and  such  action-words 
as  run,  fly,  sing,  etc.,  are  taught,  they  should  be  used 
in  making  sentences.  All  these  phrases  and  senten- 
ces should  be  read  in  a  natural  and  easy  manner,  as 
much  so  as  in  talking. 

The  teaching  of  new  written  words  as  wholes,  and 
then  combining  them  in  sentences,  should  be  con- 
tinued until  the  child  has  learned  the  art  of       , .    ..  „, 

J  Liimit  01 

"  taking  in  "  a  short  sentence  at  a  glance,  and  word 
then  reading  it  with  ease  and  naturalness. 
This  is  the  foundation  of  the  art  of  reading  the 
printed  page,  and  the  sooner  it  is  gained  the  better. 
Until  this  fundamental  skill  is  acquired,  there  can  be 
no  true  reading.  This  may  require  the  teaching  of 
one  hundred  or  more  common  words,  and  the  writing 
on  the  board  of  many  scores  of  little  sentences  com- 
posed of  them,  and  even  paragraphs,  and  the  "  calling 
out "  from  the  pupils  of  hundreds  of  oral  sentences, 
thus  making  a  beginning  in  the  art  of  verbal  expres- 
sion or  language. 

Some  teachers  prefer  to  begin  with  the  written  sen- 
tence as  a  whole,  then  teaching  the  words  of  which 
it  is  composed,  and  this  has  been  called  the  sentence 
method.  It  can  doubtless  be  used  successfully  by  a 
skillful  teacher,  but  whatever  advantage  it  may  have, 
can  be  secured  by  the  use  of  the  oral  sentence. 
When  the  pupils  have  been  led  to  use  the  word  in  a 
sentence*  it  may  then  be  written  on  the  board,  and, 
being  written  by  itself,  it  will  make  a  clearer  impress 
on  the  mind  than  if  written  with  other  words.  Nearly 
every  new  word  taught  should  be  used  by  the  pupils, 


226  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

often  several  times,  in  phrases  and  sentences,  and  this 
is  easily  secured.  The  reading  lesson  of  the  child 
should  be  eminently  a  talking  lesson. 

While  the  pupil  is  thus  learning  written  words  as 
wholes,  and  is  reading  with  increasing  skill  sentences 

Phonic        composed    of    them,    the    teacher    should 

Drills.  begin  to  make  him  familiar  with  the  ele- 
mentary sounds  that  make  up  spoken  words.  Up  to 
this  time,  the  child  may  not  have  been  conscious  of 
the  fact  that  the  words  which  he  speaks  so  easily  are 
made  up  of  several  sounds,  much  less  that  these  can 
be  separated  by  the  voice,  and  thus  be  distinctly 
recognized. 

In  these  first  phonic  exercises,  the  teacher  should 
appeal  solely  to  the  ear.  TJiar  should  be  no  rcfemice 
zvhatcvcr  to  the  wiittcn  or  printed  words.  The  object 
with  which  the  pupil  is  deahng  is  a  sound,  and  the 
eye  can  render  no  assistance. 

The  training  may  begin  by  drilling  the  pupils  in  the 
recognition  of  words  zvhe)i  sloivly  pronounced,  the  sound 
elements  being  sufficiently  separated  to  be  easily  rec- 
ognized as  parts,  as  in-a-n,  t-o-p,  etc.,  and  soon  by  re- 
quiring the  pupils  to  repeat  the  same.  The  separation 
may  next  be  made  so  great  as  to  produce  the  ele- 
ments as  distinct  sounds.  A  few  moments  of  lively 
drill  each  day  will  soon  enable  the  youngest  pupils 
to  catch  a  spoken  word  in  the  "conscious  ear,"  and 
separate  it  into  its  elements  with  great  ease  and  ac- 
curacy ;  and  also  to  combine  sounds  given  by  the 
teacher  into  the  spoken  word  of  which  they  may  be 
the  elements.  The  first  of  these  processes  is  called 
the  phonic  analysis  of  words,  and  the  second  pho7iic 
synthesis. 


READING.  227 

The  next  step  (to  be  deferred  until  the  primer  is 
reached)  is  to  associate  the  phonic  elements  with  the 
letters;  i.  c,  to  teach  the  sounds  which  the  Elementary 
several  letters  represent.  This  is  readily  Sounds, 
done  by  selecting  from  the  words  already  taught  those 
which  are  purely  phonetic,  at  first  selecting  those  with 
short  vowels,  and  arranging  them  in  classes,  those 
containing  one  or  more  common  elements  being 
grouped  together;  as,  (i)  mat,  cat,  sat,  hat,  bat,  fat, 
an,  fan,  ran,  can,  cap,  sad ;  (2)  pen,  men,  hen,  pet, 
met,  set,  bell,  red ;  (3)  in,  pin,  bin,  tin,  skin,  it,  bit, 
sit,  hit,  lip,  pig ;  (4)  ox,  box,  fox,  top,  cot,  dog  ;  (5) 
sun,  run,  gun,  fun,  up,  cup,  tub,  mug,  rub,  nut,  cut," 
etc. 

Words  containing  the  long  vowels  may  next  be 
taken,  as  lame,  tame,  mane,  face,  race,  late,  hate,  etc., 
and  then  simple  words  containing  the  other  vowels. 

In  an  incredibly  short  time  the  elementary  sounds 
will  be  so  associated  with  the  related  letters  that 
pupils  will  be  able  "to  make  out"  and  phonic 
pronounce  new  written  or  printed  words.  Method, 
and  when  this  power  is  acquired,  the  teaching  of 
words  as  wholes  should  give  place  to  the  phonic  method 
of  learning  words.  This  will  be  easy  when  the  new 
words  contain  no  silent  letters  or  letters  with  unusual 
sounds,  and  nearly  one  half  of  the  words  in  an  ordi- 
nary primer  are  purely  phonetic.  About  one  half  of 
the  remaining  words  present  no  special  difficulty,  even 
to  a  child,  and  this  is  true  when  neither  phonic  type, 
as  Leigh's,  nor  diacritical  marks  are  used.  The  indi- 
cating of  the  sounds  of  letters  by  modified  type  or 
marks  may  assist  the  pupil  in  pronouncing  particular 
words,  but  experience  does  not  conclusively  show  that 


228  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

it    gives    the    pupil    increased    power    to    read    non- 
phonic  type.* 

There  are  two  difficulties  in  the  phonic  analysis  of 

words  which  are  worthy  of  notice  in  this  connection. 

One  pertains  to  vowels  which  are  modified 

Difficulties.       ,  ,  .  .,,,..,  ,  , 

by  coalescnig  with  the  liquid  or  subvocai 
that  follows,  as  in  fast,  chance,  mercy,  etc.  There  are 
very  few  teachers  who  can  give  the  exact  sound  of  the 
vowel  in  such  cases,  even  in  combination.  The  other 
difficulty  pertains  to  obscure  vowels  in  unaccented 
syllables,  as  in  primer,  creator,  error,  honor,  lesson, 
etc.  The  vowel  sound  in  such  syllables  (what  there  is 
of  it)  so  blends  with  the  liquid  that  it  is  very  difficult 
to  separate  them  and  not  change  either  sound.  SiicJi 
syllables  sJwiild  not  be  analysed  by  young  pupils. 

This  remark  suggests  the  importance  of  giving  early 
attention  to  the  syllabic  analysis  of  words  so  useful 
in  making  out  and  pronouncing  new  words.  When 
a  pupil  recognizes  the  syllables  of  a  word  at  a  glance, 
there  is  little  profit,  the  vocal  drill  excepted,  in 
analyzing  the  word  into  its  elements,  f  There  is  much 
time  wasted  in  our  schools  in  analyzing  many  times 
words  and   syllables   that   present  no   difficulty  what- 


*  When  the  pupil  is  somewhat  familiar  with  the  phonic  synthesis 
of  new  words,  it  will  greatly  assist  him  in  associating  certain  sounds 
of  letters  in  combination  if  words  presenting  these  are  written  on 
the  boird  in  columns.  A  column  of  words  with  short  a,  and  a 
parallel  column  of  words  with  long  a,  a  column  with  initial  c  hard, 
and  a  parallel  column  with  initial  c  soft,  etc.,  will  be  very  helpful. 

tThis  remark  calls  attention  to  the  importance  of  paying  careful 
attention  to  the  syllables  in  oral  or  letter  spelling.  The  modern 
practice  of  simply  naming  the  letters  of  a  word  in  succession,  without 
reference  to  its  division  into  syllables,  is  objectionable.  The  syllable 
is  an  important  element. 


READING.  229 

ever.     The  phonic  analysis  of  words  should  frequently 
give  place  to  syllabic  analysis. 

It  is  sometimes  claimed  that  the  phonic  method  of 
teaching  words  makes  poor  spellers,  since  it  begets  a 
tendency  to  follow  the  phonic  elements  of 

,     .  Spelling. 

the  word  in  writing ;  and  this  claim  seems 
to  be  sustained  by  the  fact,  noted  by  Dr.  Thomas 
Hill  and  others,  that  deaf  and  dumb  children,  with 
equal  practice,  spell  better  in  writing  than  speaking 
children.  Their  attention  is  given  exclusively  to  the 
words  as  forms.  Whatever  may  be  true  of  the  ten- 
dency referred  to,  it  should  be  fully  offset  by  the  prior 
attention  given  to  words  as  forms  by  the  word  method, 
and  the  constant  reproduction  of  these  forms  in  writ- 
ing words — both  supplemented  by  skillful  drills  in  oral 
spelling.  The  phonic  analysis  should  be  succeeded 
by  letter  analysis,  and  the  spelling  of  words  as  forms, 
both  by  writing  and  orally,  should  receive  constant 
and  persistent  attention. 

It  has  not  been  deemed  best  to  state  where  the 
transition  should  be  made  from  script  to  print,  or 
when  or  how  the  charts  may  be  used,  script  to 
These  and  other  like  details  will  depend  ^""*- 
more  or  less  on  circumstances,  and  can  be  wisely  de- 
termined only  by  the  teacher.  It  must  suffice  to  say 
that  if  the  blackboard  and  chart  lessons  be  thoroughly 
taught,  the  pupils  will  thus  master  between  one  hun- 
dred and  two  hundred  words,  and  will  read  hundreds 
of  little  sentences  expressing  interesting  facts  within 
their  easy  grasp.  This  done,  they  will  be  prepared 
to  take  the  primer  and    read    its    beautiful 

Primer. 

pages    with   delight,    provided    always   that 


230  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

they  are  not  permitted  to  stumble  over  words.  The 
words  in  the  primer  should  be  taught  with  the  same 
thoroughness  as  the  new  written  words  in  previous 
lessons,  but  with  increasing  attention  to  the  making 
out  of  the  word  from  its  elements. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  method  of  teaching  reading 
above  described  unites  what  are  known  as  the  word, 
Union  phonic,  and  letter  methods,  also  objective. 
Method.  ^j^j  jj^  ^  limited  sense  phonetic,  and  hence 
it  may  properly  be  called  the  U)iion  method.  The 
manner  in  which  these  several  processes  or  steps  are 
united   is  shown  in  the  following  outline  analysis : 


f  I.  Concept    or   idea    represented — 
I  objective. 

I.   Words  (IJ  7('/io/t'j •]    2.  Words  as  sounds. 

3.  Words  as  forms — script  or  print. 

4.  Writing  words — script  or  print. 


First  Steps  in 
Reading. 


(  I.  Groups  or  phrases. 

II.  Words  in  combination..  -'   2.   Sentences. 

(  3.  Paragraphs. 

III.  Word  analysis |   '■  Words  as  sounds-phonic 

(.2.   Words  as  forms— letter. 


Reading  Drills  in  Second  Reader. 

Most  of  the  more  recent  manuals  of  methods  seem 
to  take  it  for  granted  that  if  reading  be  properly 
taught  the  first  year,  there  will  be  little  difficulty  in 
the  subsequent  years  of  the  course.  It  is  true  that  a 
right  beginning  in  this  branch  is  specially  important, 
but  the  experience  of  the  schools  shows  that  the 
teaching  of  reading  after  the  first  year  also  demands 
the  highest  teaching  skill  and  endeavor.  Indeed,  all 
that  precedes  the  use  of  the  First  Reader  is  but  a  prep- 


READING.  231 

aration  for  the  mastery  of  the  art  of  readhig  the 
printed  page.  It  seems  important,  therefore,  to 
sketch  a  method  of  teaching  reading  in  First-reader, 
Second-reader,  and  Third-reader  grades,  and  it  is  be- 
heved  that  such  a  method  can  be  presented  with  suffi- 
cient clearness  from  the  stand-point  of  the  Second 
Reader. 

Silent  reading  is  the  apprehension  of  the  thoughts 
and  feelings  presented  to  the  mind  by  written  or 
printed  language.  Oral  reading  is  the  Reading 
vocal  expressiqn  of  the  thoughts  and  feel-  Defined, 
ings  p'resented  to  the  mind  by  written  or  printed  lan- 
guage. The  necessary  condition  of  both  silent  and 
oral  reading  is  a  clear  apprehension  of  the  thought 
and   feeling  as  presented  in  the  language  read. 

It  follows  from  these  statements  that  a  pupil  can 
not  read  a  sentence  correctly  if  he  has  not  a  clear 
knowledge  of  the  words  of  which  it  is  composed,  such 
knowledge  being  essential  to  a  grasp  of  the  thought. 
This  fact  explains  much  of  the  poor  success  which  so 
often  attends  the  reading  drills  in  our  schools,  and  es- 
pecially in  elementary  schools.  The  pupils  are  thrust 
at  once  into  the  reading  of  sentences,  and  these  are 
taken  up  not  singly,  but  in  paragraphs.  The  attempt 
is  made  to  master  the  words  through  the  reading  of 
the  sentences,  and  the  result  is  that  the  words  are 
neither  mastered  nor  the  sentences  read.  The  pupils 
go  stumbling  and  drawling  through  the  successive 
lessons  without  acquiring  the  ability  to  read  accurately 
and  intelligently  either  silently  or  orally.  It  is  ex- 
ceedingly painful  to  listen  to  reading  when  pupils  thus 
hesitate  and  stumble  over  unfamiliar  words. 


232  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

The  first  step  in  a  reading  drill  is  the  teaching  of 
the  words,  and  the  more  thoroughly  this  is  done  the 

Reading       more  clcarly  will  the  pupils  grasp  and  ex- 

Drins.  press  the  thought  and  feeling ;  and  this 
statement  suggests  that  a  reading  drill  should  consist 
of  two  corresponding  exercises,  the  first  designed  to 
secure  a  mastery  of  the  zvords,  and  the  second  a  correct 
reading  of  sentences,  the  first  being  preparatory  to  the 
second.  Let  us  consider  these  two  exercises  in  the 
order  stated. 

The  mastery  of  a  word  includes  the  ability  (i)  to 
recognize  or  name  it  at  sight ;  (2)  to  utter  it  with 
accuracy,  force,  and  ease ;  (3)  to  spell  or 
analyze  it  by  sound  and  by  letter ;  and  (4) 
to  apprehend  its  meaning  and  to  use  it  intelligently. 
The  second  result  specified,  and  also  the  analysis  by 
sound,  are  not  essential  to  silent  reading,  and  would 
receive  no  attention  in  teaching  the  deaf  and  dumb, 
but  the  pupils  in  our  ordinary  schools  are  to  be 
taught  to  read  orally,  as  well  as  silently,  and  hence  all 
the  results  specified  are  important  ends  of  a  thorough 
word  drill.  When  all  the  words  in  a  sentence  are 
thus  mastered  by  a  pupil,  he  is  prepared  to  attempt 
to  give  oral  expression  to  the  thought.  What  we 
desire  especially  to  urge  is  that  this  word  drill  should 
precede  sentence  reading. 

Among  the  various  means  which  may  be  used  to 
teach  the  words  of  a  reading  lesson,  the  following  are 
the  most  valuable; 

I.    TJic  writing  of  all  the  new  zvords  in  the  lesson,  as 

a  part  of   its  preparation.      This  will  greatly  assist  in 

the  easy  recognition  of  the  words,  and  also 

Means.  .  .  . 

in  learning  their  spelling. 


READING.  233 

2.  The  rcadiiig  of  the  copied  zvords  from  slate  or  paper 
in  the  class.  This  may  be  done  by  orally  spelling  the 
words,  and  then  by  pronouncing  them  rapidly  "up 
and  down."  This  will  secure  accuracy  in  writing  or 
copying,  and  fluency  and  ease  in  pronouncing.  Words 
which  are  peculiar  in  orthography  or  difficult  to  pro- 
nounce may  be  written  on  the  board  and  the  pupijs 
drilled  upon  them  in  concert  and  singly.  This  may 
be  followed  by  the  pronouncing  of  the  words  in  the 
book  from  right  to  left,  taking  a  line  each,  or  the 
teacher  may  pronounce  the  first  word  at  the  right,  a 
pupil  the  next  word,  the  teacher  the  next,  another 
pupil  the  next,  and  so  on.  Instead  of  pronouncing 
all  the  words,  those  containing  two  or  more  syllables 
may  be  given,  the  object  being  to  test  ability  to  name 
words  at  sight. 

3.  The  oral  spelling  of  the  words  in  the  lesso7i  by 
sotind  and  by  letter.  This  will  secure  the  study  of  the 
reading  lesson,  and  will  also  enable  the  teacher  to  give 
due  attention  to  the  correct  pronunciation  and  articu- 
lation of  each  word.  We  would  urge  every  primary 
teacher  to  make  this  spelling  exercise  precede  every 
exercise  in  reading.  Special  attention  should  be  given 
to  the  proper  division  of  words  into  syllables,  and 
syllabic  analysis  should  often  be  used  in  place  of 
phonic  analysis.  Pupils  should  be  frequently  given 
lists  of  words  to  copy,  dividing  the  same  into  syllables, 
marking  the  accent,  and  indicating  the  sounds  of  let- 
ters by  the  use  of  diacritical  marks.  Copies  of  such 
lists  should  be  made  on  the  blackboard  and  the  pupils 

drilled  thereon. 

*  • 

4.  The  teaching  of  the    meanino    of  new   words    by 

objects,  by  illustrations,  by  use  in  phrases  or  senten- 

W.    p.— 20. 


234  EL  EM  EN  TS  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 

ces,  etc.  The  importance  of  this  instruction  has  been 
so  clearly  and  strongly  set  forth  in  preceding  pages 
that  nothing  need  be  added  here. 

5.  TJie  2ise  of  the  words  tJius  t might,  in  original  sen- 
tences, both  oral  and  written.  This  exercise  is  widely 
used  in  our  best  schools.  It  is  not  only  valuable  as  a 
test  of  the  pupil's  knowledge  of  the  meaning  of 
words,  but  it  is  an  excellent  language  lesson.  The 
sentences  thus  formed  should  be  read  by  the  pupil, 
and  subsequently  examined  by  the  teacher. 

The  above  exercises  variously  combined  and  modi- 
fied to  suit  the  condition  and  needs  of  pupils,  will 
obviate  largely  all  hesitation  and  stumbling  in  the  call- 
ing of  words,  and,  at  the  same  time,  will  impart  to 
them  such  a  knowledge  of  their  meaning  as  will 
greatly  assist  in  the  clear  cornprehension  of  the 
thought,  without  which  good  reading  is  impossible. 
They  may  receive  attention  in  the  first  part  of  the 
reading  exercise,  or  each  alternate  exercise  may  be 
devoted  to  them.  The  latter  plan  was  adopted  by 
one  of  the  most  successful  teachers  in  my  acquaint- 
ance, and  with  excellent  results.  She  devoted  the 
forenoon  exercise  entirely  to  the  words,  and  the  after- 
noon drill  to  the  reading  of  sentences. 


The  words  being  mastered,  the  pupils  are  prepared 
to  read  the  lesson — to  grasp  the  thought  and  give  it 
Reading       corrcct   uttcrancc.      But    the    teacher   must 
Proper.       j-^q|-  |.^]^-g  jj-  {q^  granted  that  no  further  in- 
struction is  necessary.      The  vocal  expression  must  be 
made  at  once  the  evidence  of  a  clear  comprehension 


READING.  235 

of  the  thought  and  the  test  of  it.  To  this  end  the 
mind  must  be  interested,  the  attention  enlisted,  the 
feehngs  awakened,  and  all  the  involved  powers  of  the 
soul  put  in  an  active  state.  This  will  require  skillful 
work  on  the  part  of  the  teacher.  Mere  talking  will 
not  answer.  It  is  possible  to  bury  a  reading  lesson 
beneath  a  mass  of  miscellaneous  and  irrelevant  talk. 
The  one  central  aim  is  to  give  the  pupil  needed  assist- 
ance in  the  grasp  of  the  thought  to  be  expressed. 
All  instruction  that  does  not  throw  light  on  the 
thought  to  be  read,  or  prepare  the  pupil  for  its  lively- 
apprehension,  is  now  out  of  place.  //  is  the  pupils' 
time  to  talk.  The  teacher's  first  duty  is  to  ascertain 
what  they  know,  and  in  this  duty  the  voice  is  to  be 
taken  as  the  test  of  the  mind.  A  mistake  in  em- 
phasis is  primarily  the  mind's  blunder,  and  it  must  be 
corrected  by  giving  the  mind  a  clearer  grasp  of  the 
thought.  In  this  work  there  is  a  very  small  place  for 
vocal  imitation.  The  pupil  may  be  able  to  imitate 
the  teacher's  utterance  without  grasping  or  appreci- 
ating the  thought  or  feeling  expressed. 

Special  pains  must  be  taken  to  assist  the  pupil  in 
the  reading  of  language  that  appeals  to  the  imagina- 
tion. The  reader  must  see  with  the  mind's  Mental 
eye  the  scenes  which  the  language  de-  Pictures, 
scribes,  and,  to  this  end,  the  imagination  must  be 
active  and  responsive.  Much  of  the  dull  reading  in 
our  schools  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  pupils  do  not 
picture  or  apjireciate  what  the  language  describes, 
and  this  is  specially  true  in  the  reading  of  poetry. 

The  writer  once  visited  a  school  and  witnessed  an 
exercise  in  reading  that  forcibly  illustrates  this  point, 


236 


ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 


as   well  as  the   necessity  of  teaching  concepts, 
poem  read  began  with  the  stanza: 


The 


"  I   wish  I   were  a  reindeer, 
To  gallop  o'er  the  snow. 
Over  the  fleecy  Lapland  drear, 
So  merrily  I  'd  go." 

The  lines  were  read  in  a  dull  and  unappreciative 
manner,  and  on  questioning  the  pupils  it  was  made 
evident  that  they  had  no  idea  of  a  reindeer  or  of 
Lapland,  and  no  conception  of  the  scene  described. 
They  had  been  repeating  a  jingle  of  words.  A  few 
words  of  instruction  designed  to  give  them  clear  con- 
cepts and  a  vivid  mental  picture  of  what  the  language 
describes,  changed  the  mental  condition  of  all,  and  a 
little  drill  secured  good  vocal  expression. 

The  nature  of  the  reading  drill  in  the  Second 
Reader,  above  described,  will  perhaps  be  more  clearly 
shown  by  the  following  outline  analysis: 


Reading 
Drill. 


I.  Preparation — 
Word  Mastery. 


I.  Ends  or  results. 


2.  Means. 


II.  Sentence  Reading.. 


1.  Recognition  of  words  at 

sight. 

2.  Their    correct    and    easy 

utterance. 

3.  Their    sound    and     form 

elements. 

4.  Their  meaning  and  use. 


1.  Writing  all  new  words. 

2.  Reading  copied  words. 

3.  Spelling    by    sound    and 

letter. 

4.  Teaching  the  meaning  of 

words. 

5.  Their  use  in  original  sen- 

tences. 


1.  Grasp    of    thought     and 

feeling. 

2.  Vocal    expression     of 

thought   and    feeling. 


READING.  237 

It  is  not  meant  that  all  the  reading  exercises  in  an 
elementary  school  should  be  such  drills  as  those  just 
described.  It  is,  however,  urged  that  supplemental 
pupils  should  master  one  series  of  readers  Readmg. 
in  this  thorough  manner.  In  addition,  the  classes 
should  be  supplied  with  supplemental  readers,  or 
other  reading  matter  of  like  grade,  and  one  or  two 
exercises  each  week  should  be  devoted  to  this  supple- 
mental reading.*  Here  the  fullest  freedom  should  be 
granted.  The  aim  should  be  to  test  increasingly  the 
ability  of  the  pupils  to  read  intelligently  without 
previous  drill,  to  interest  them  in  the  reading  of  good 
books,  to  create  in  them  a  thirst  for  knowlege,  and  to 
inspire  them  with  a  just  appreciation  of  the  beautiful 
and  true  in  thought  and  word. 

Reading  Drills  in  Advanced  Classes. 

In  more  advanced  classes,  the  word  drill  may  be 
united  with  the  reading  exercise  proper,  and  the  study 
of  the  selection  to  be  read  may  now  take  a  wider 
range,  including  not  only  a  more  critical  study  of 
words  and  a  more  discriminating  analysis  of  the 
thought,  but  also  increasing  attention  to  figures  of 
speech,  historical  and  literary  allusions,  style,  etc. 
While  the  central  aim  of  all  this  instruction  is  to  lead 
the  pupil  to  a  clearer  grasp  of  the  thought  and  to  a 
livelier  feeling,  as  conditions  of  their  proper  vocal  ex- 
pression, it  also  aims  to  impart  to  him  an  increasing 
appreciation  of  good  English,  and  greater  power  and 
facility  in  its  interpretation  and  use. 


"*This  supplemental  reading   may   also   be   made  the   basis  of  an 
excellent  series  of  language  exercises. 


238  ELEMENTS  OE  FED  A  GOGY. 

As  a  further  aid  in  this  culture,  each  choice  selec- 
tion read  should  be  made  the  basis  of  a  practical  and 
English  suggestive  lesson  in  English  literature. 
Literature,  fhis  iustruction  sliould  not  only  include 
the  biography  of  the  author,  but  also  information  re- 
specting his  literary  productions,  with  home  readings, 
when  practicable.  No  pupil  should  be  permitted  to 
read  the  selections  from  the  choice  literature  found  in 
the  higher  readers  used  in  the  schools,  and  remain 
ignorant  of  the  writers  who  have  made  English  letters 
illustrious. 

There  should  be  exercises  to  improve  the  voice — to 
increase  its  clearness,  compass,  resonance,  force,  etc., 
Vocal  but  there  should  be  no  attempt  to  fit  tones 
Training.  ^^^  movements  to  passages  by  mechanical 
rules.  All  true  vocal  expression  flows  from  the 
thought  and  feeling,  just  as  the  stream  flows  from  the 
fountain.  If  the  mind's  action  is  sluggish,  the  utter- 
ance will  be  dull  and  monotonous ;  if  the  emotions 
are  asleep,  the  tones  will  be  lifeless.  The  one  essential 
condition  of  true  reading  is  a  baptism  into  the  spirit 
of  the  selection  or  passage.  It  should,  however,  be 
kept  in  mind  that  while  good  reading  requires  a  clear 
expression  of  the  thought,  it  does  not  require  a  full 
expression  of  the  feeling.  The  reader  should  never 
"tear  a  passion  to  tatters,"  whatever  the  actor  may 
do.  Reading  is  not  acting.  The  most  that  good 
reading  requires  is  that  the  feeling  be  clearly  sug- 
gested by  the  voice;  and  the  power  of  the  voice  in 
this  direction  is  marvellous. 

Special  attention  should  be  given  to  the  correct  pro- 
nunciation   of    words.       W^ords     commonly     mispro- 


READING.  239 

nounced  should  be  written  on  the  board  in  both 
orthographic  and  phonic  forms,  and  the  Pronuncia- 
pupils  drilled  in  their  pronunciation.  Lists  *'°"- 
of  such  words  should  be  added  to  those  found  in  the 
selections  read;  and  it  is  an  excellent  plan  for  pupils 
to  copy  all  such  words  in  blank  books,  provided  for 
the  purpose,  the  words  being  written  in  one  column 
in  their  orthographic  form,  and  in  another  in  the 
phonic  form,  the  pronunciation  being  indicated  by- 
proper  syllabication  and  diacritical  marks.  These  lists 
of  words,  commonly  mispronounced,  should  often  be 
reviewed  and  their  correct  pronunciation  made  familiar. 
The  reading  drill  should  necessitate  the  daily  use  of 
the  dictionary,  and  no  intelligent  pupil  should  com- 
plete the  Fourth  Reader  without  being  able  to  deter- 
mine the  pronunciation  and  meaning  of  words  from  a 
standard  dictionary — once  a  rare  attainment  in  most 
grammar  schools. 

The  nature  of  the  reading  drill  above  described  may 
be  more  clearly  indicated  by  an  illustrative  lesson,  and 
I  select  for  the  purpose  the  opening  para-     illustrative 
graph    of    * '  The    TJmnder  Storm, ' '    an   ex-         °""- 
cellent  prose  selection  by  George  D.   Prentice: 

"  I  never  was  a  man  of  feeble  courage.  There  are  few  scenes  of 
either  human  or  elemental  strife  upon  which  I  have  not  looked  with 
a  brow  of  daring.  I  have  stood  in  the  front  of  the  battle  when  the 
swords  were  gleaming  and  circling  around  me  like  fiery  serpents  in 
the  air,  I  have  seen  these  things  with  a  swelling  soul,  that  knew 
not,  that  recked  not,  danger.  But  there  is  something  in  the  thunder's 
voice   that  makes  me  tremble  like  a  child." 

The  class  is  supposed  to  be  composed  of  twenty 
pupils,  numbered  for  convenience  from  one  to  twenty 


240         ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

inclusive,  and  the  instruction  and  drill  are  indicated 
Preparatory    by  qucstions  and  directions.     The  drill  on 

Study.  ^.j-jg  passage  should  be  preceded  by  a  pre- 
paratory study  of  the  selection  as  a  whole,  with  a 
biographical  study  of  the  author,  as  follows : 

Who  was  the  writer  of  this  selection  ?  What  do 
you  know  of  his  history?  In  what  war  did  he  serve 
as  a  cavalry  officer?  [The  Mexican  War.]  What 
influential  paper  did  he  long  edit  ?  What  kind  of 
prose  is  this  selection  ?  Who  can  give  the  story  on 
which  it  is  based?  No.  5  may  do  so.  Did  Mr. 
Prentice  also  write  poetry?  Name  one  or  more  of 
his  poems.  No.  7.  Who  can  repeat  a  few  lines 
from  any  one  of  his  poems  ?  What  is  a  characteristic 
feature  of  Mr.  Prentice's  style?  No.  2.  What  do 
you  see  to  admire  in  this  selection  ?  etc. 

We  are  now  ready  to  read  the  passage.      No.  3  may 

read  the  first  sentence.     Does  the  writer  say  that  he 

was  never  a  man  ?     Never  a  man  of   courage  ?     What 

Drill         does  he  assert  ?     No.  4  may  read  the  sen- 

Proper.  tcuce.  What  is  the  emphatic  group  of 
words?  No.  3.  [of  feeble  courage.]  What  is  the 
emphatic  word  in  the  group  ?  You  may  now  read  the 
sentence  again.     The  class  may  read  in  concert. 

What  kinds  of  scenes  are  referred  to  in  the  next 
sentence?  No.  10.  What  is  meant  by  "  strife ?  "  No. 
II.  Give  an  example.  What  kinds  of  strife  are  spec- 
ified? No.  16.  What  is  meant  by  "human"  strife? 
No.  12.  Give  examples.  What  is  meant  by  "ele- 
mental" strife?  No.  20.  Give  examples.  Name  the 
four  "elements"  of  the  ancients.  No.  15.  What  is 
the  meaning  of  "scenes?"  No.  19.  What  was  its 
original    meaning?      How   were    these   scenes   looked 


READING.  241 

upon?  [with  a  brow  of  daring.]  What  figure  of 
speech  is  this?  [Metaphor.]  Would  "without  fear" 
express  the  idea  as  strongly?  How  does  the  "brow" 
express  courage?  [Here  the  teacher  may  teach  and 
illustrate  the  effects  of  courage  and  fear  on  the  ex- 
pression of  the  face.]  Which  is  the  stronger  word, 
"courage"  or  "daring?"  No.  7  may  read  this 
sentence.  No.  15.  The  class  in  concert.  No.  i,  the 
two  sentences.     No.    18;. 

No.  4  may  read  thd  next  sentence.  Where  does 
Prentice  say  he  has  stood  ?  Where  in  the  battle  ?  Why 
"  in  the  front?  "  What  is  the  meaning  of  "  circling?  " 
No.  6.  Of  "gleaming?"  No.  2.  What  is  the  difference 
between  "gleaming"  and  "flashing?"  Which  is  the 
better  word  for  this  place  ?  With  what  are  the  swords 
compared?  No.  14.  What  is  the  figure  of  speech? 
[Simile.]  The  meaning  of  "fiery?"  No.  13.  What  is 
the  emphatic  group  of  words  in  the  simile?  No.  9 
may  read  the  sentence.  No.  17,  What  letter  is 
silent  in  "swords?"  No.  8.  Write  the  word  phonic- 
ally  on  the  board.  The  class  may  pronounce  it.  No. 
II.  No.  14.  No.  16  may  read  the  sentence;  the 
three  sentences.      No.   13. 

No.  17  may  read  the  next  sentence.  What  figure 
of  speech  is  "with  a  swelling  soul?"  No.  2. 
[Metaphor.]  Why  does  this  phrase  express  courage? 
Express  the  same  idea  in  simple  language.  No.  12. 
[without  fear.]  Which  is  the  stronger  expres- 
sion? Which  is  the  stronger  word,  "knew"  or 
"recked?"  No.  18.  What  is  the  meaning  of 
recked?  The  original  meaning?  No.  19  may  read 
the  sentence.  No.  20  may  read  to  the  first  comma ; 
the  closing  part  of  the  sentence.      What   is   the   em- 

W.    P._2I. 


242  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

phatic    word    in    the    closing    part?     No.    ii.     In  the 
first  part?     Class  may  read  the  sentence. 

What  change  of  feeling  is  indicated  by  the  closing 
sentence?  No.  5.  Read  the  sentence.  What  word 
is  the  hinge  on  which  the  vocal  expression  turns? 
Class.  [But.]  What  is  meant  by  the  "thunder's 
voice?"  No.  10.  What  figure  of  speech  is  this? 
[Personification.]  Why  is  "voice"  a  better  word 
here  than  peal  or  roar  ?  Note  the  beauty  of  referring 
to  the  thunder  as  a  person.  What  figure  of  speech  is 
"like  a  child?"  [Simile.]  Why  is  the  comparison  a 
good  one  ?  No.  6  may  read  the  closing  sentence ; 
the  two  closing  sentences  together.  No.  i  may  read 
the  entire  passage.     No.   9  may  read  it. 

These  questions  indicate  very  imperfectly  the  in- 
struction and  drill  that  may  be  based  on  this  simple 
paragraph.  It  is  seen  that  question  and  drill  go  hand 
in  hand.  The  one  picks  the  thought  out  of  its  verbal 
husk  and  kindles  the  feeling,  and  the  other  gives 
them  proper  utterance.  It  is  evident  that  reading 
thus  taught  must  enlarge  the  pupil's  vocabulary, 
increase  his  command  of  language,  train  the  voice, 
elevate  the  taste,  sharpen  the  intellect,  and  refine  and 
ennoble  the  feelings. 


LANGUAGE.  243 


LANGUAGE. 

The  ability  to  express  knowledge  in  correct,  clear, 
and  cogent  language  is  one  of  the  best  results  of 
school  training.  This  fact  has  not  only  been  recognized 
in  these  pages  in  many  ways,  but  it  has  been  accepted 
and  applied  as  one  of  the  prime  tests  of  method  and 
practice.  It  has  been  taught  that  every  teaching  ex- 
ercise should  enlarge  the  pupil's  vocabulary,  increase 
his  power  to  express  what  he  knows  clearly  and  cor- 
rectly, and  enhance  his  appreciation  of  this  power  as 
worthy  o*f  his  best  efforts.  It  has  been  shown  that 
both  the  lesson  and  the  recitation  should  require  full- 
ness and  clearness  of  expression,  should  correct  errors 
and  secure  accuracy — in  short,  that  they  should  be 
made  a  practical  drill  in  the  use  of  language,  oral  and 
written. 

The  fact  has  also  been  recognized  that  the  schools 
must  go  further  and  provide,  in  addition,  a  separate 
and  systematic  course  of  training  in  language,  with 
skill  in  its  use  as  a  distinct  end.  A  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury ago  it  was  necessary  to  advocate  this  duty  and 
urge  its  importance  upon  teachers  and  school  officers. 
Happily  this  necessity  no  longer  exists,  and  it  only 
remains  to  sketch  for  the  guidance  of  the  inexperi- 
enced those  methods  of  teaching  language  that  have 
stood  the  test  of  actual  use.  To  this  end,  I  have  se- 
lected from  the  language  exercises  used  in  the  best 
schools  those  that  have  impressed  me  most  flivorably, 
and  have  attempted  to  arrange  and  present  these  in  a 
natural   and   progressive   order.     In    determining    this 


244  ELEMENTS  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 

order,  it  has  been  accepted  as  a  guiding  principle  that, 
in  teaching  language  as  an  art,  synthesis  should  pre- 
cede analysis,  that  the  facts  of  language  should  precede 
its  rules,  and  hence  that  practical  composition  should 
precede  technical  grammar. 

The  entire  series  of  exercises,  the  purely  mechanical 
excepted,  embodies  the  principle  that  all  fruitful  train- 
ing in  language  must  begin  with  the  thought  and  end 
with  its  expression  (p.  129),  and  hence  that  the  first 
step  is  to  see  that  the  pupil  has  knowledge  to  express. 
The  exceptions  are  the  exercises  designed  to  give  the 
child  skill  in  those  mechanical  forms  which  are  a  part 
of  written  language,  this  mechanical  phase  of  training 
being  preparatory  to  expression  proper. 

The  most  practical  and  fruitful  principle  embodied 
in  the  series  is  expressed  by  the  maxim:  ''Talking 
before  zvriting.''  The  first  language  lesson  given  a  little 
child  in  school,  as  well  as  in  the  nursery,  should  be 
one  in  talking,  and  all  through  the  elementary  course 
the  tongue  should  prepare  the  way  for  the  pen.  The 
special  weakness  of  much  of  the  language  instruction 
in  the  schools  has  its  source  in  a  violation  of  this 
guiding  principle.  Young  pupils  are  expected  to  ex- 
press on  paper  what  they  have  not  expressed  orally, 
and  often  what  they  can  not  thus  express.  "Good 
habits  of  speech,"  says  Professor  March,  "are  caught 
rather  than  taught."  Conversation  should  afford  chil- 
dren needed  opportunity  to  catch  the  art  of  talking, 
and  especially  should  conversation  be  made  the  road 
to  composition. 

It  follows  that  the  written  exercises  in  an  elementary 
language  course  should  be  developed  orally,  and  the 
knowledge  acquired  first  expressed  in  clear  and  beauti- 


LANGUAGE.  245 

ful  speech — a  fact  that  will  appear  in  the  lessons  below. 
There  should  also  be  exercises  in  the  upper  grades 
specially  designed  to  impart  to  pupils  readiness,  ac- 
curacy, and  elegance  in  the  oral  expression  of  thought. 
The  practice  in  a  few  schools  of  setting  apart  some 
twenty  minutes  each  week  for  the  telling  of  the  tiews 
affords  an  excellent  training  in  speaking.  The  pupils' 
aim  should  be  not  merely  to  give  the  information,  but 
to  tell  it  in  the  best  possible  manner.  A  similar  train- 
ing is  afforded  by  the  practice  of  reviewing  studies  by 
general  topics  (p.  182),  the  pupils  being  required  to 
rise,  face  the  class  or  school,  and  tell  what  they  know 
in  brief  talks. 

I,     Primary  Series — ^Preparatory. 

1.  Wntmg  ivords  and  sentences.  This  is  the  first 
written  step,  and  should  be  taken  nearly,  if  not  quite, 
as  early  as  the  first  lesson  in  reading.  The  first  words 
taught  should  not  only  be  written  by  the  teacher  on 
the  blackboard,  but  also  by  the  pupils  on  their  slates. 
In  like  manner,  each  new  word  should  be  introduced 
by  crayon  and  pencil,  and  not  only  as  a  means  of 
teaching  reading  (p.  224),  but  to  impart  early  skill  in 
writing.  The  first  sentences  written  by  the  child 
should  begin  with  a  capital  letter  and  end  with  the 
proper  punctuation  mark.  ^ 

2.  Copying    viaxims,  provci-bs,   stanzas  of  poetry,   etc. 
The  object  of  this  step  is  to  make  the  pupil  familiar  with 


*In  these  and  all  subsequent  exercises,  careful  attention  is  to  be 
given  to  spelling,  capitalization,  punctuation,  the  forming  of  com- 
pound words,  the  division  of  words  at  the  end  of  line,  etc.  Errors 
in  the  use  of  words  should  be  persistently  corrected. 


246  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

the  written  form  of  language.  The  maxims  and  prov- 
erbs should  be  written  on  the  blackboard,  and  then 
neatly  copied  by  the  pupil.  The  copying  of  a  para- 
graph of  the  reading  lesson  each  day  will  afford  addi- 
tional exercises.  Stanzas  and  even  short  pieces  of 
poetry  may  be  selected  for  the  purpose.  A'  little 
encouragement  from  the  teacher  will  cause  children  to 
take  great  pleasure  in  these  copying  exercises.  At- 
tention should  be  given  to  the  proper  use  of  capital 
letters  and  punctuation  marks. 

3.  Writing  sentences  dictated  by  the  teacher  and  mem- 
orized by  the  pnpil.  In  the  preceding  exercises  the 
pupil  has  had  the  written  or  printed  model  before 
him.  Now  that  which  is  addressed  to  the  ear,  is  to 
be  placed  in  proper  form  before  the  eye.  This  is  a 
step  in  advance,  and  it  should  be  carefully  taken. 
Each  sentence  must  commence  with  a  capital  letter 
and  end  with  the  proper  punctuation  mark,  the  words 
must  be  correctly  spelled,  and  the  whole  neatly  ar- 
ranged and  written.  Not  only  original  sentences,  but 
instructive  maxims,  verses  of  scripture,  etc.,  may  be 
given,  the  pupils  being  required  to  repeat  the  same 
in  concert  and  singly  until  they  can  do  so  with  accu- 
racy and  ease.  It  is  well  for  children,  even  at  this 
early  age,  to  begin  the  task  of  enriching  the  mind 
with  little  gems  of  wisdom  and  beauty,  so  abundant  in 
literature. 

4.  Writing  sentences  expressing  facts  observed.  The 
pupil  is  now  required  to  construct  as  well  as  copy 
sentences.  The  facts  which  he  is  led  to  observe  are 
first  expressed  orally,  and  then  written  neatly  and  cor- 
rectly on  the  slate.  The  starting-point  is  an  object 
lesson,   that  is,  a  lesson  in  observing;  the  end  is  sen- 


LANGUAGE.  247 

tence- making,  and  this  is  believed  to  be  one  of  the 
highest  uses  of  object  lessons.  They  are  the  fountains 
out  of  which  speech  and  composition  flow.  The 
pupil  may  first  express  each  fact  observed  in  a  sepa- 
rate sentence;  as,  "The  chalk  is  white,"  "The  chalk 
is  round,"  "The  chalk  is  hard,"  "The  chalk  is  brit- 
tle." He  may  next  be  taught  to  express  \hese  sev- 
eral facts  in  one  sentence;  as,  "The  chalk  is  white, 
round,  hard,  and  brittle,"  These  lessons  may  take  a 
wide  range,  but  they  should  always  be  brief  and  sim- 
ple. The  written  exercise  should  not  exceed  four  or 
five  sentences,  in  one  paragraph.  The  aim  should  be 
to  interest  the  pupils  in  the  object,  and  to  make  them 
very  familiar  with  the  facts  observed  and  their  oral 
expression  before  they  attempt  to  write  the  same. 

5.  Writing  descriptions  of  present  actions.  This  is 
similar  to  the  preceding,  but  calls  into  exercise  not 
only  the  power  of  observation,  but  also  of  memory. 
The  teacher  may  perform  several  acts,  and  then  re- 
quire the  children  to  tell  her  what  she  did.  If  not 
well  described,  she  may  repeat  the  actions,  and  thus 
give  the  pupils  another  opportunity.  The  aim  should 
be  to  secure  close  observation  and  accurate  telling  of 
what  occurred.  A  pupil  may  be  asked  to  step  before 
the  school,  and  by  his  actions  give  the  pupils  some- 
thing to  see  and  tell. 

6.  Writing  scntoiccs  cojitaining  one  or  more  given  zvords. 
This  step  may  embrace  two  classes  of  exercises.  In 
the  first  the  pupil  is  required  to  use  properly,  in  sen- 
tences, words  selected  from  his  reading  lessons.  Sup- 
pose the  words  selected  to  be  "fragrant,"  "fleece," 
and  "tossed."  The  pupil  writes,  "New  hay  is  very 
fragrant,"  "My  lamb  has  a  snowy  fleece,"  "The  boy 


248  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

tossed  the  fish  into  the  water."  This  is  an  excellent 
method  of  teaching  the  meaning  of  words.  In  the 
second  class  of  exercises  the  teacher  gives  two  or  more 
words,  and  the  pupil  constructs  a  sentence  containing 
them.  Suppose  the  words  given  to  be  "skate,"  "ice," 
and  "smooth."  The  pupil  writes,  "It  is  fine  sport  to 
skate  on  the  smooth  ice."  The  sentences  should  be 
first  given  orally,  and  then  in  writing.  We  have  seen 
a  primary  school  wrought  up  to  the  highest  pitch 
of  enthusiasm  by  this  simple  exercise.  The  teacher 
scarcely  completed  the  writing  of  the  last  word  before 
a  forest  of  little  hands  indicated  that  the  sentences 
were  ready. 

In  more  advanced  classes,  this  exercise  may  be  em- 
ployed to  familiarize  pupils  with  the  nature  and  use  of 
prefixes  and  affixes.  The  following  sentences  selected 
from  an  actual  exercise  on  the  word  "form"  will  illus- 
trate: "I  form  a  piece  of  clay  into  a  tube,"  "Vanity 
deforms  the  mind,"  "I  ought  to  reform  myself  every 
day,"  "The  caterpillar  transforms  itself  into  a  chrys- 
alis, "I  perform  on  the  piano  with  my  fingers,"  "I 
conform  to  the  wishes  of  my  parents,"  "I  inform  my- 
self by  observing  nature." 

7.  Writing  stories  which  pupils  have  learned  to  tell 
zvcll.  Stories  are  the  delight  of  young  children,  and 
they  like  to  hear  them  many  times.  It  is  a  capital 
oral  exercise  to  tell  a  simple  story,  and  teach  children 
to  repeat  it  well.  They  will  make  many  an  effort  to 
tell  a  story  so  as  to  please  the  teacher  and  receive 
her  approval.  When  the  pupils  have  learned  a  story 
and  can  tell  it  beautifully,  let  it  be  made  a  written  ex- 
ercise. It  will  be  an  excellent  drill  in  spelling,  and  in 
the  use  of  capitals  and  punctuation  marks.     The  same 


LANGUAGE.  249 

Story  may  not  only  be   repeated  many  times,   but   it 
may  be  written  more  than  once. 

N.  B.  In  the  above  series  of  exercises  both  the  thoughts  and 
their  oral  expression  are  made  familiar  to  the  pupils  before  they  are 
asked  to  write  the  sentences  on  the  slate.  The  slate  work  is  chiefly 
mechanical. 


II.    Secondary  Series. 

1.  Writing  the  substance  of  reading  lessons.  The  pre- 
ceding exercises  have  led  the  pupil  to  the  grouping 
of  a  few  sentences,  and  writing  them  in  the  form  of  a 
paragraph.  The  pupil's  reading  lessons  will  afford  ex- 
cellent materials  for  additional  practice.  A  few  ques- 
tions will  elicit  the  more  important  facts,  which,  when 
expressed  in  the  pupil's  own  language  and  properly 
grouped,  will  form  an  excellent  written  exercise.  The 
lesson  should  first  be  taught  orally,  and  the  pupils 
should  be  given  needed  practice  in  telling  what  they 
thus  learn."  It  will,  however,  not  be  necessary  to 
make  the  written  exercise  a  simple  reproduction  of 
the  oral.  The  pupils  are  now  prepared  for  freer  work. 
One  or  two  paragraphs  may  be  sufficient  for  an  ex- 
ercise. This  series  may  also  include  the  changing  of 
poetry  to  prose,  the  simplest  poems  being  used  at 
first — a  capital  exercise. 

2.  Writing  descriptions  of  pictures  and  stories  based  on 
pictures.  Children  like  to  see  and  talk  about  pictures, 
and  hence  they  afford  excellent  subjects  for  language 
lessons.  They  appeal  not  only  to  the  eye  but  to  the 
imagination — a  constant  source  of  child  delight.  I 
once  heard  a  class  of  little  children  give  a  description 


250  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

of  a  camel  from  a  large  picture  of  the  animal,  the  facts 
being  called  out  by  the  skillful  questions  of  the  teacher. 
Many  years  ago  I  called  attention  to  a  primary  school 
in  which  "picture  lessons"  were  a  marked  success, 
but  now  such  schools  are  numerous.  Pictures  are  a 
prominent  feature  in  nearly  all  courses  of  language 
lessons,  and  they  are  even  made  the  basis  of  several 
extended  series  of  lessons  presented  on  cards  and  in 
books  for  the  use  of  pupils.  Pictures  may  be  made 
the  basis  of  little  stories,  the  pupil  being  encouraged 
to  use  the  imagination  freely.  These  stories  may  be 
suggested  by  questions. 

3.  Writing  stories  told  or  read  by  the  teacher.  This 
exercise  is  similar  to  the  last  in  the  primary  series, 
but  is  more  difficult  since  the  stories  are  not  commit- 
ted to  memory.  The  pupils  hear  the  story  and  then 
give  the  substance  of  it  in  their  own  words.  At  first 
the  teacher  may  review  the  narrative  by  questioning 
the  pupils,  thus  fixing  the  main  points  of  it  in  their 
minds.  The  charming  stories  of  Grimm,  Christian 
Andersen,  and  other  writers  of  children's  tales,  may 
be  used  for  this  purpose.  The  teacher  should  usually 
tell  the  story,  and,  of  course,  in  an  interesting  manner. 

A  story  may  be  given  in  short  sentences,  and  the 
pupils  be  required  to  unite  and  expand  the  same  into 
a  narrative.*     It  may  also  be  suggested  by  questions 


■■•'The  following  analysis  of  a  narrative  by  the  late  Prof.  T.  E. 
Suliot,  a  very  skillful  teacher  of  English  composition,  will  illustrate 
this  exercise : 

1.  During  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Augustus,  a  dolphin  formed 
an  attachment  to  a  boy. 

2.  The  boy  was  the  son  of  a  poor  man. 

3.  The  boy  used  to  feed  the  dolphin  with  bits  of  bread. 

4.  Every  day   the  dol])hin    swam   to   the  surface  of  tlie  water. 


LANGUAGE.  25 1 

written  on  the  board.  In  higher  classes,  the  mere 
outlines  of  a  story  may  be  given,  and  the  pupils  be 
required  to  write  the  same. 

4.  Writing  descriptions  by  anszvering  questions.  So 
far  the  pupil  has  been  more  or  less  directly  assisted 
in  finding  the  thought-materials  used  in  his  written 
exercises.  Now  he  is  to  begin  to  furnish  his  own 
materials,  under  the  guidance  of  questions  that  direct 
his  search  for  them.  The  plan  is  simple.  The  teacher 
selects  an  object  or  subject  within  the  pupil's  obser- 
vation, as  "Rain,"  "Snow,"  "Fences,"  etc.,  and 
writes  on  the  blackboard  several  suggestive  questions 
which  the  pupils  are  to  answer  the  next  day  in  writ- 
ing. These  answers  are  read  in  the  class  and  freely 
discussed,  thus  giving  to  all  the  pupils  an  abundance 
of  facts.  They  are  now  required  to  arrange  these 
facts  in  the  form  of  a  written  description.  A  given 
topic  may  be  sufficient  for  several  series  of  questions, 
and  may  afford  materials  for  two  or  more  written 
exercises.  In  the  first  exercises  the  objects  may  be 
presented  with  the  questions.  Pictures  may  also  be 
used  as  the  basis  of  this  exercise. 

5.  Writing  business  papers.  These  may  include  prom- 
issory  notes,    due -bills,   receipts,   checks,    drafts,   etc. 


5.  The  dolphin  was  called  by  the  boy. 

6.  The  dolphin  received  his  usual  meal. 

7.  The  dolphin  carried  the  boy  on  his  back   from  the   sea-port 
to  a  school  in  Putioli. 

8.  The  dolphin  brought  him  back  in  the  same  manner. 

9.  The  boy  after  a  time  grew  sick. 

10.  The  boy  died. 

11.  The  dolphin  came  to  the  usual  place. 

12.  The  dolphin  missed  his  kind  companion. 

13.  The  dolphin  is  said  to  have  died  of  grief. 


253  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

Every  boy  and  girl  should  be  early  taught  to  draw  up 
such  papers  in  proper  form.  They  afford,  in  addition 
to  their  practical  value,  an  excellent  practice  in  writing 
abbreviated  words,  dates,  etc. 

III.    Original  Series. 

The  pupil  is  now  thrown  upon  his  own  resources, 
and  begins  what  may  properly  be  called  original  com- 
position. But  it  may  be  well  to  guide  him  in  the  se- 
lection of  subjects.  The  one  essential  direction  to  all 
pupils  is  that  they  do  not  attempt  to  write  on  subjects 
of  zvJiich  they  knoiv  nothing,  the  possession  of  thoughts 
being  necessary  to  their  expression.  The  seven  series 
of  exercises  given  below  will  afford  much  excellent 
practice. 

I.  Letters.  Pupils  in  our  schools  should  have  much 
instruction  and  practice  in  letter-writing.  The  ability 
to  write  an  intelligent,  well-expressed,  neatly-written 
letter  at  ten  years  of  age,  is  a  possible  and  important 
acquisition.  I  once  had  a  pupil  who,  when  a  small 
boy  in  an  English  school,  wrote  a  letter  daily  for  two 
years.  He  greatly  excelled  all  his  classmates  in  com- 
mand of  language,  and  in  accuracy  and  readiness  in 
composing.  A  letter  is  a  pen  talk  with  a  friend  or 
other  person,  and  is,  perhaps,  the  freest  and  most 
natural  of  written  productions.  De  Ouincy  thinks 
that  the  best  style  of  writing  is  found  in  the  private 
correspondence  of  educated  women.  Many  a  school- 
girl, whose  "essays"  are  stilted  and  dreary  enough, 
can  write  charming  letters,  and  for  the  reason  that 
her  letters  express  her  own  thoughts  and  feelings. 
The  dating,  signing,  folding,  and  addressing  of  letters 


LANGUAGE.  253 

should  receive  special  attention.  The  writing  of  let- 
ters should  begin  early  —  long  before  it  is  made  a 
regular  language  exercise. 

2.  Descriptions  of  know7i  objects.  These  may  be  nat- 
ural, as  an  animal,  a  tree,  a  range  of  hills,  a  valley,  a 
lake,  etc.,  or  objects  made  by  human  skill.  The  de- 
scriptions should  be  truthful. 

3.  Narratives  of  personal  experience.  These  may  at 
first  be  brief,  including  but  a  few  incidents.  A  little 
practice,  under  stimulating  guidance,  will  enable  the 
pupil  to  write  natural  and  interesting  exercises. 

4.  Descriptions  of  journeys,  real  and  imaginary. 
These  may  at  first  be  written  in  the  form  of  letters. 
Young  pupils  may  first  be  asked  to  talk  about  the 
journey — a  trip  to  the  country,  a  visit  to  an  uncle, 
etc.,  and  then  Vv-rite  a  letter  about  it.  This  exercise 
may  be  made  a  valuable  means  of  acquiring  geograph- 
ical knowledge. 

5.  Biographical  sketches.  This  exercise  may  be 
united  with  the  reading  instruction,  as  described  on 
page  240.  When  the  facts  in  the  life  of  an  author 
have  been  made  familiar,  the  pupils  may  be  required  to 
write  these  facts  in  the  form  of  a  biographical  sketch. 
The  exercise  may  also  include  the  lives  of  men  and 
women  who  have  acquired  fame  in  history,  science, 
charity,  etc.,  and  especially  those  who  have  been  pub- 
lic benefactors. 

6.  Descriptions  of  ctirrcnt  events.  These  may  be  nat- 
ural phenomena,  as  storms,  floods,  etc.,  or  social  and 
historical  occurrences.  New  inventions,  discoveries  in 
science,  etc.,  will  be  interesting  topics  to  older  pupils, 

7.  TJie  discussion  of  themes.  This  brings  the  pupil 
to  the  writing  of  the  essay  proper,  and  here  style  as- 


254  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

sumes  new  importance.  Simplicity  will  require  special 
attention.  The  best  means  of  acquiring  a  simple  style 
is  the  attentive  reading  of  the  writings  of  Addison  and 
Irving.  Franklin  tells  us  in  his  autobiography  that 
he  greatly  improved  his  style  by  carefully  reading  cer- 
tain essays  in  the  "Spectator,"  and  then  writing  what 
he  had  read,  comparing  his  style  with  the  original, 
and  correcting  his  errors.  A  good  style  is  largely 
caught  by  hearing  and  reading  good  English,  but  it  is 
made  one's  own  by  thoughtful  practice. 


It  will  be  noticed  that  the  three  series  of  language 
exercises  given  above,  and  the  several  exercises  in 
each  series,  are  so  arranged  as  to  present  a  progress- 
ive course.  The  exercises  rise  in  difficulty  from  the 
first  to  the  last,  ending  with  the  writing  of  "essays"  — 
a  task  which  confronted  the  writer  at  his  very  first 
effort  to  "write  the  English  language  correctly." 

It  is  not,  however,  meant  that  these  exercises  shall 
actually  receive  attention  in  school  training  in  the  or- 
der here  indicated.  It  is  possible  to  make  language 
training  so  "systematic"  as  to  destroy  the  pupil's  in- 
terest in  it.  Too  much  attention  to  the  letter  may 
kill  the  spirit.  There  must  be  great  variety,  and  even 
spontaneity,  in  a  child's  language  efforts,  and  the  best 
thing  to  be  done  at  a  given  time,  or  in  the  future, 
can  not  always  be  anticipated.  It  is  believed  that  the 
intelligent  teacher  will  find  in  these  series  of  exercises 
much  of  the  best  experience  of  the  schools  in  lan- 
guage training.  Special  attention  is  called  to  the  fact 
that  none  of  them  swing  on  the  gate  of  technical 
grammar. 


LANGUAGE.  255 

Language  training  should  receive  daily  attention, 
and  during  the  entire  two  years  that  precede  the  study 
of  English  grammar,  language  exercises  should  have  a 
stated  place  in  the  daily  program.  They  should  re- 
ceive as  faithful  attention,  both  by  teacher  and  pupil, 
as  the  exercises  in  reading  or  arithmetic,  or  any  other 
branch  of  study. 

First  Lessons  in  English  Grammar. 

A  successful  study  of  the  science  of  language  re- 
quires a  subtlety  of  the  judgment,  and  a  maturity  of 
the  reason  possessed  by  i^w  pupils  under  fourteen 
years  of  age.  Trench  says  that  ' '  Grammar  is  the 
logic  of  speech  as  Logic  is  the  grammar  of  reason," 
and  both  philosophy  and  experience  show  that  neither 
logic  nor  grammar  is  a  child's  study.  Technical  gram- 
mar clearly  belongs  to  as  high  a  period  of  mental 
training,  as  algebra.  The  most  important  reform  in 
in  the  study  of  language,  that  has  received  attention 
within  the  past  thirty  years,  is  the  postponement  of 
grammar  to  a  later  period  in  the  course ;  and,  in  most 
schools,  it  is  still  undertaken  full  two  years  too  early. 
The  time  thus  well-nigh  wasted  on  the  analytic  study 
of  language  should  be  given  to  a  more  thorough  and 
progressive  training  in  the  use  of  language,  as  is  indi- 
cated in  the  previous  pages.  "As  grammar  was  made 
after  language,"  says  Spencer,  "so  ought  it  to  be 
taught  after  language."* 

It  is  not  only  true  that  grammar  should  be  taught 


*It  may  without  hesitation  be  affirmed   that  grammar  is  not  the 
stepping-stone,   but   the   fmisliing  instrument. — Marcel. 


256  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

after  language,  but  its  facts  should  be  reached  through 
language.  The  guiding  maxims  here  are,  '^ Facts  be- 
fore  prmcipks,''  and  ''Facts  before  their  classification^ 

It  is  further  to  be  observed  that  the  facts  of  language 
are  best  reached  by  synthesis.  The  young  pupil  best 
learns  the  structure  of  the  sentence,  the  nature  and 
\  use  of  modifiers,  by  actually  expressing  and  modifying 
his  own  thoughts.  It  is  the  thought  that  gives  being 
and  form  to  the  sentence,  and  hence  the  thought  must 
be  grasped  before  the  sentence  can  be  analyzed,  and 
the  clearer  this  grasp  the  easier  the  analysis.  Syn- 
thesis begins  with  the  thought,  and  thus  becomes  the 
natural  road  to  grammar.  It  should  precede  analysis, 
and  both  synthesis  and  analysis  should  prepare  the 
way  for  technical  grammar. 

The  following  method  of  introducing  the  pupil  to 
the  study  of  English  grammar  embodies  these  princi- 
ples. The  exercises  are  limited  to  the  Simple  ScntencCy 
since  the  mastery  of  its  facts  is  essential  to  the  intel- 
ligent study  of  the  science  of  language  as  presented  in 
the  best  school  manuals. 


Introductory  Lessons. 

Direct  the  pupils'  attention  to  the  distinction  be- 
tween objects  and  their  names,  and  write  the  names 
■of  the  various  objects  in  the  school -room  on 

■'         ^  Nouns. 

the  blackboard  as  given  by  pupils.     Teach 
the  pupils  that  these  names  are  called  nouns.     Require 
the  names  of  twenty  or  more  objects  to  be  written  on 
paper  by  each  pupil  and  brought  to  the  class  at  the 
next  exercise. 


LANGUAGE.  2$  J 

As  these  lists  of  names  are  read,  call  attention  to 
the  fact  that  some  of  the  names  denote  one  object, 
and  others  more  than  one.      Teach  the  idea 

Number. 

of  immber  as  the  property  of  nouns.  Let 
the  pupils  reread  their  lists  of  nouns,  and  state  whether 
they  are  singular  or  plural.  Require  them  to  bring-  to 
the  next  class  exercise,  say  twenty  nouns,  written  in 
the  singular  and  also  in  the  plural ;  as,  tree,  trees ; 
bird,  birds;  fence,  fences,  etc. — the  same  being  writ- 
ten in  paragraph  form,  with  proper  punctuation  marks. 
These  written  exercises  will  show  that  the  plurals  of 
nouns  are  not  all  formed  in  the  same  w'ay,  and  possi- 
bly that  certain  nouns  have  the  same  form  in  the  sin- 
gular and  in  the  plural. 

The  above  exercises  may  also  call  attention  to  the 
fact  that  nouns  which  denote  individual  objects  have 
no  plural.      Develop  the  idea  of  class,  and 

^  ^  '  Class. 

show  that  the  nouns  which  have  a  plural 
number  denote  classes  of  objects.  Illustrate  the  dis- 
tinction between  a  coniinoii  noun,  the  name  of  a  class, 
and  a  proper  noun,  the  name  of  an  individual.  Re- 
quire the  pupils  to  bring  to  the  next  class  exercise 
twenty  common  names,  and  after  each  a  proper  name 
denoting  an  individual  of  the  class ;  thus,  city,  Colum- 
bus ;  river,  Ohio ;  street,  Broadway ;  island,  Iceland, 
etc.  This  written  exercise  should  be  repeated,  if  nec- 
essary. Attention  may  be  called  to  the  fact  that  all 
proper  nouns  when  written  should  begin  with  a  capital 
letter. 

Next  develop  the  idea  of  quality,  and  write  words 
denoting  the  quality  of  known  objects  on  the  black- 
board.    Teach   that    these    words    qualify    the    nouns, 

W.    p. -22. 


258  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

which   are  the  names  of  the    objects,   and   are   called 

adjectives."^'-     Require  the  pupils  to  bring  in  the  names 

of  twenty  objects,  each  preceded  by  an  ad- 
Adjectives.      ...  . 

jective   denoting   quality ;    thus,    tall   trees ; 

small  apples ;  sour  grapes ;  a  pleasant  face,  etc. 

Call  attention  to  the  actions  of  familiar  objects,  and 

write  on  the  blackboard  words  denoting  action.     Name 

„   ,  an  object,  as  bird  or  bee,  and  ask  the  pu- 

Verbs.  _  ■'  '■ 

pils  to  name  its  appropriate  actions.  Teach 
that  a  word  denoting  action  is  called  a  verb,  and  re- 
quire the  pupils  to  bring  in  twenty  or  more  written 
sentences  composed  of  a  noun  and  a  verb ;  as,  Birds 
fly.      Children  sing.      Bees  hum.      etc. 

Next  call  attention  to  the   differences  in  actions  of 

the  same  kind,  and  show  that  the  meaning  of  a  verb 

may  be  qualified  by  a  word  denoting  man- 
Adverbs.  J  ^  J  o 

ner,  time,  etc.  Write  verbs  on  the  board 
and  let  pupils  add  qualifying  words.  Teach  that  these 
words  that  qualify  verbs  are  called  adverbs.  Require 
the  pupils  to  bring  in  twenty  written  sentences  with 
each  verb  modified  by  an  adverb. 

The  pupils  will  thus  obtain  a  clear  primary  knowl- 
edge of  four  parts  of  speech — nouns,  the  names  of 
things ;  adjectives,  words  that  modify  the  meaning  of 
nouns;  verbs,  words  that  denote  actions;  and  adverbs, 
words  that  modify  verbs,  f  No  attempt  has  been  made 
to  teach  formal  definitions,  or  to  develop  all  the  prop- 

*The  term  adnoim  is  preferable,  but  the  term  adjective  is  in  gen- 
eral use. 

t Pronouns  (personal)  may  also  be  introduced  here,  and  the  prop- 
erties of  gender  and  person  made  familiar.  This  instruction  may, 
however,  be  given  later  with  advantage.  *■ 


LANGUAGE.  259 

erties  of  nouns  and  verbs,  the  classes  of  adjectives 
and  adverbs,  etc.  Other  facts  and  other  classes  of 
words  will  be  discovered  as  the  pupils  proceed  in  the 
course,  and  can  then  be  made  familiar.  The  guiding 
maxim  in  these  lessons  is  "■  otic  fact  at  a  time.''  This 
fact  should  be  taught  at  the  right  time,  and  should  be 
made  familiar  before  it  is  left. 

N.  B.  All  of  the  written  exercises  in  the  course  should  be  first 
brought  in  on  slate  or  paper,  and,  after  being  considered  in  class  and 
corrected,  they  should  be  neatly  copied  with  pen  and  ink  in  a  blank- 
book  provided  for  the  purpose.  These  exercises  should  be  written 
in  paragraph   form   and  headed.  Exercise   i,  Exc?xise  2,   etc. 

Synthesis  of  the  Simple  Sentence. 

The  pupils  are  now  prepared  to  begin  the  synthesis 
of  the  simple  sentence,  and  thus  learn  the  relations 
between  the  words  of  which  it  is  composed.  The  first 
step  is  to  teach  the  frame -work,  so  to  speak,  of  the 
sentence  by  teaching  the  four  general  forms  in  which 
thoughts  may  be  expressed,  called  the  four  forms  of 
predication. 

I.  Write  on  the  board  several  names  of  objects,  and 
ask  the  pupils  to  affirm  some  action  of  each  object. 
Proceed  in  this  manner  until  ten  or  more  Action 
sentences  affirming  action  have  been  writ-  Predicated. 
ten.  Call  on  the  pupils  to  give  the  word  in  each  sen- 
tence, that  is,  the  name  of  the  object  and  the  word 
that  denotes  the  action,  and  teach  the  terms  subject 
and  predicate.  For  the  next  lesson  give  the  names  of 
two  objects,  as  birds  and  bees,  and  require  the  pupils 
to  predicate  as  many  actions  of  each  as  they  may  be 
able,  each  class  of  sentences  to  be  written  in  a  para- 


26o  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

graph.  The  pupils  may  also  be  required  to  select 
from  ten  to  twenty  objects,  and  affirm  an  action  of 
each  object. 

These  written  sentences  should  be  read  in  the  class, 
and  the  subject  and  predicate  in  each  designated. 
Select  from  the  sentences  thus  presented  and  analyzed 
twenty  or  more  of  the  best,  and  have  the  pupils  copy 
the  same  with  pen  and  ink  in  their  exercise  books,  for 
future  use. 

2.  Next  show  that  quality  may  be  affirmed  of  an 
object.     Take  an  apple  for  example,  and  lead  the  pu- 

Quaiity  pils  to  rccognizc  its  various  qualities  —  first 
Predicated,  tliosc  whicli  the  cyc  rcvcals;  as,  round,  green 
or  red,  large  or  small,  fair,  etc. ;  then  those  revealed 
by  the  sense  of  touch ;  as,  smooth  or  rough,  hard,  soft, 
or  mellow,  withered,  etc.;  then  by  the  sense  of  taste; 
as,  sour  or  sweet,  tart,  pleasant,  juicy,  etc.  Let  the 
pupils  write  sentences  upon  the  blackboard  affirming 
several  of  these  qualities  of  an  apple.  Let  them  des- 
ignate the  words  denoting  respectively  the  name  of 
the  object  or  subject,  the  quality  predicated  or  attribu- 
ted, and  the  copula  (terms  to  be  explained).* 

For  the  next  lesson  several  objects  may  be  named, 
and  the  pupils  required  to  bring  in  sentences  predicat- 
ing appropriate  qualities  of  each.  The  words  paper, 
chalk,  coal,  iron,  sugar,  salt,  snow,  ice,  glass,  leather, 
horse,    tree,    etc.,    will    be    found    easy    and    suitable. 


*The  copula  and  attribute  together  constitute  tlie  j^redicate,  and, 
in  analysis,  the  pupils  should  be  taught  to  divide  the  sentence  into 
sul)ject  and  predicate,  and  then  give  the  copula  and  attribute.  In 
the  sentence,  "Apples  are  sour,"  "Apples"  is  the  subject,  and  "are 
sour"  the  predicate,  "are"  being  the  copula  and  "sour"  the  attri- 
bute.    Some  granunarians  consider  the  attribute  the  predicate.- 


LANGUAGE.  26 1 

When  these  sentences  have  been  read  and  analyzed, 
the  teacher  should  select  twenty  or  more  of  the  best 
for  the  pupils  to  copy  in  their  exercise  books. 

For  an  additional  exercise,  show  how  several  qual- 
ities of  the  same  object  may  be  affirmed  in  one  sen- 
tence; as,  "Glass  is  hard,  smooth,  and  brittle;"  and 
also  that  the  same  quality  may  be  affirmed  of  several 
objects;  as,  "Glass,  paper,  and  ice  are  smooth,"  Have 
the  pupils  bring  in  ten  or  more  sentences  of  each  kind, 
and,  after  they  have  been  read  and  analyzed,  select 
ten  or  more  of  the  best  sentences  of  each  kind  for  the 
pupils  to  copy  in  exercise  books. 

3.  Review  the  previous  lesson  on  classes  of  objects 
(p.  258),  and  then  write  on  the  board  the  names  of 
ten  or  more  objects,  and  ask  the  pupils  to  ciass 
affirm  class  of  each  ;  as,  "Grass  is  an  herb,"  Predicated. 
"Iron  is  a  mineral,"  etc.  Require  the  pupils  to  give 
the  subject  and  predicate,  and  then  the  word  denoting 
the  class  or  the  attribute  and  the  copula.  Require  the 
pupils  to  bring  in  for  the  next  class  exercise  twenty 
sentences,  in  which  class  is  predicated.  Analyze  these 
sentences  and  select  twenty  of  the  best  for  pupils  to 
copy.  It  may  be  necessary  to  have  several  exercises 
in  order  to  make  the  pupils  sufficiently  familiar  with 
this  mode  of  predication. 

4.  Develop  the  ideas  of  place  or  position,  and  write 
on  the  board  sentences  in  which  place  or  position  is 
affirmed;  as,  "The  pencil  is  on  the  table,"  piace,  etc., 
"The  paper  is  under  the  book,"  etc.  Show  Predicated, 
that  the  phrases  "on  the  table"  and  "under  the 
book"  denote  the  attribute  predicated,  and  analyze  the 
sentences  into  subject  and  predicate,  and  the  predicate 


262  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

into  copula  and  attribute.  Write  on  the  board  the 
following  words  and  phrases  denoting  place  or  position, 
and  have  pupils  use  the  same  in  written  sentences  as 
attributes:  here,  there,  in  town,  in  the  country,  in  the 
city,  on  the  table,  out  of  town,  in  the  water,  in  the 
sky,  etc.  These  sentences  should  be  analyzed  into 
subject  and  predicate,  and  the  predicate  into  copula 
and  attribute,  and  then  twenty  or  more  of  the  best 
selected  and  copied. 

The  idea  of  condition  may  then  be  developed  in  a 
similar  manner,  and  sentences  written  containing  such 
phrases  in  the  predicate  as  in  doubt,  in  perplexity, 
in  danger,  in  peril,  on  the  advance,  on  the  retreat,  on 
the  increase,  etc.  These  sentences  should  be  analyzed 
and  twenty  or  more  selected  and  copied.* 

The    four    classes    of  simple    sentences    thus   taught 
present  the  four  general  forms  of  predication.      If  the 
Essential      cxcrcises    have    been    faithfully    prepared. 
Elements,      ^-j-^^  sentcnccs  clcarly  analyzed,  and  the  se- 
lected   ones   copied,    the   pupils  will    be   somewhat   fa- 


*  The  practical  value  of  a  clear  knowledge  of  this  form  of  pred- 
ication will  appear  more  fully  when  the  class  reaches  the  parsing 
of  the  preposition.  It  will  then  be  obvious,  if  attention  be  called 
to  it,  that  when  a  prepositional  phrase  is  used  as  an  essential  ele- 
ment of  a  sentence  (not  as  a  modifier),  its  initial  preposition  does 
not  show  the  relation  of  its  object  to  any  other  word  in  the  sen- 
tence. The  same  is  true  when  a  phrase  is  used  as  the  subject  of 
a  sentence.  In  such  sentences  as  "The  army  is  in  peril,"  "The 
result  is  in  doubt,"  "In  danger  is  a  phrase,"  "In  the  morning  is  the 
time  for  duty,"  etc.,  the  phrase  is  an  essential  element,  and  the 
preposition  "  in  "  does  not  show  the  relation  between  words.  AVhen 
the  prepositional  phrase  is  used  as  a  modifier  (p.  264),  the  preposi- 
tion shows  the  relation  between  its  object  and  the  word  whick  the 
phrase  as  a  whole  modifies. 


LANGUAGE.  263 

miliar  with  the  essential  elements  of  a  simple  sentence, 
and  they  will  also  have  acquired  some  skill  in  its  syn- 
thesis and  analysis. 


The  next  step  will  be  to  make  the  pupils  familiar 
with  the  different  modes  of  expanding  a  sentence  by 
the  use  of  modifiers,  and  the  lessons  may  Modifiers  oi 
properly  begin  with  the  modifiers  of  the  Subjects, 
subject.  It  will  be  easy  to  show  that  the  subject  may 
be  modified  (i)  by  an  adjective ;  i.  e.,  by  a  word  de- 
noting quality ;  as,  "Tall  trees  bend,"  "Shallow  brooks 
are  noisy ;"  or  by  a  limiting  adjective  ;  as,  "This  boy  is 
studious,"  "Ten  soldiers  were  killed;"  or  by  both  lim- 
iting and  qualifying  adjectives;  as,  "  Five  brave  soldiers 
fell,"  "A  few  wild  flowers  are  in  the  vase."  These 
sentences  will  serve  as  models  for  sentences  to  be  writ- 
ten by  the  pupils  and  analyzed  in  class,  twenty  or  more 
of  each  series  being  selected  and  copied  for  future  use. 

In  like  manner  it  may  be  shown  that  the  subject  of 
a  sentence  may  be  modified  (2)  by  a  noun  denoting 
possession;  as,  "Children's  voices  are  musical,"  "The 
crazy  man's  eyes  are  restless,"  "The  sun's  warm  rays 
are  pleasant;"  (3)  by  a  norm  in  apposition;  as,  "Milton 
the  poet  was  blind,"  "Willie  the  drummer  is  dead;" 
and  (4)  by  an  adjunct  (or  phrase) ;  as,  "The  rays  of  the 
sun  warm  the  earth,"  "The  hand  of  diligence  is  seldom 
empty."  Each  of  these  forms  of  modifying  will  afford 
one  or  more  written  exercises  of  ten  to  twenty  sen- 
tences each,  to  be  analyzed,  and  the  selected  ones 
copied.  It  will  be  found  a  valuable  exercise  to  require 
the  pupils  to  change  the  prepositional  phrases  used  by 
them  to  adjectives,  or  to  nouns  in  the  possessive  case. 


264  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

Great  pains  should  be  taken  to  secure  the  correct  use 
of  the  possessive  sign. 

In  a  similar  manner  the  use  of  participles  and  in- 
finitives as  modifiers  of  a  noun  may  be  illustrated  and 
familiarized.  It  is  better,  however,  to  omit  these  mod- 
ifiers until  the  verb  is  better  understood. 

The  pupils  may  here  be  taught  that  these  different 
modifiers  of  the  subject  are  equally  applicable  to  a 
noun  in  the  predicate.  The  following  sentences  may 
be  given  as  models  for  several  new  exercises:  "A 
flatterer  is  a  dangerous  enemy,"  "An  idle  brain  is  the 
devil's  workshop,"  "Idleness  is  the  parent  of  vice." 


The  modifiers  of  the  verb  may  next  be  taught.  Th« 
verb  may  be  modified  (i)  by  an  adverb;  as,  "The  sol- 
Modifiers  of    diers  fought  bravely"  (manner),    "A  good 

the  Verb.  name  will  shine  forever"  (time),  "The 
king  lives  here"  (place);  and  each  of  these  sentences 
will  serve  as  models  for  ten  to  twenty  written  sen- 
tences. Sentences  may  also  be  written  and  analyzed 
in  which  an  adverb  modifies  an  adverb;  as,  "Kate 
sang  very  sweetly,"  and  those  in  which  an  adverb 
modifies  an  adjective;  as,  "A  very  tall  tree  fell,"  "The 
stranger  is  very  rich." 

The  verb  may  be  modified  (2)  by  an  adjunct  (phrase) 
denoting  manner,  time,  place,  cause,  etc.;  as,  "Bad 
workmen  are  known  by  their  chips,"  "  In  the  morning 
sow  thy  seed,"  "The  soldier  died  for  his  country" — 
the  adjuncts  performing  the  same  office  as  adverbs; 
and  also  by  both  an  adverb  and  an  adjunct;  as,  "The 
house  was  shaken  violently  by  the  wind." 


LANGUAGE.  265 

The  verb  may  be  modified  (3)  by  a  noun  denoting 
the  object \^  as,  "The  wind  shakes  the  house,"  "The 
fire  burns  coal;"  and  also  (4)  by  an  infinitive,  or  infin- 
itive phrase  (verbal  noun);  as,  "The  boy  strives  to 
excel,"  "A  noble  boy  will  scorn  to  do  a  mean  act." 
Each  of  these  sentences  will  serve  as  models  for  ten 
to  twenty  written  sentences,  and  the  exercises  should 
be  repeated  until  this  form  of  modifying  is  familiar  to 
the  pupils. 


There  has  been  little  attempt  in  the  above  outline 
to  indicate  the  nature  of  the  oral  instruction  which 
should  prepare  the  way  for  the  writing  of  the  illustra- 
tive exercises.  The  main  reliance  should  be  placed 
on  the  writing  of  the  sentences  and  their  analysis,  since 
these  will  give  the  pupil  a  better  knowledge  of  the 
structure  of  the  sentence  and  the  office  of  modifiers 
than  any  amount  of  explanation  by  the  teacher. 

As  indicated  above  in  several  instances,  the  analytic 
drill  on  the  written  exercises  in  class  is  to  be  followed 
by  the  selection  of  twenty  (more  or  less)  Analysis  and 
of  the  best  sentences  prepared  by  the  pu-  Parsing. 
pils,  and  the  copying  of  these  in  an  exercise  book 
provided  for  the  purpose.  These  exercise  books,  at 
the  close  of  the  synthetic  course,  above  described,  will 
contain   possibly  near  a  tJioiisand  selected  sentences,  di- 


*Soine  grammarians  do  not  regard  the  object  as  a  modifier  of 
the  verb,  but  as  an  essential  element  of  the  sentence.  It  seems  to 
be  clearly  a  modifier. 

The  use  of  the  participle,  the  infinitive  (after  nouns  and  adjec- 
tives), and  the  clause  as  a  modifier  should  receive  no  attention  until 

the  verb  is  more  fully  taught,  and  the  complex  sentence  is  reached- 
W.  P.-23. 


266  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

vided  into  exercises,  and  each  specially  illustrating  one 
fact  of  the  simple  sentence.  These  books  will  thus 
contain  most  excellent  material  for  future  study,  and 
the  next  step  is  to  review  the  entire  series,  giving  spe- 
cial attention  to  both  analysis  and  parsing,  the  former 
being  made  the  key  to  the  latter.  The  analysis  should 
be  simple,  and  the  parsing  should  follow  no  definite 
formula.  The  two  essential  facts  of  each  word  to  be 
known  are  its  class  (part  of  speech)  and  its  relation  to 
the  other  words  in  the  sentence.  Other  facts  of  im- 
portance may  be  called  out  by  questions. 

The  properties  of  the  noun  and  pronoun  (personal) 
will  be  early  reached,  including  person,  number,  gen- 
der, and  case,  and  these  should  be  made  familiar ;  also 
the  classes  of  adjectives  and  adverbs,  and  the  preposi- 
tion and  conjunction.  When  the  noun  in  the  objective 
case  after  the  verb  is  again  reached,  the  pupils  may  be 
led  to  see  that  all  verbs  do  not  admit  of  an  object,  and 
also  that  verbs  may  be  divided  into  two  classes — those 
which  take  an  object  after  them  (transitive),  and  those 
which  do  not  take  an  object  (intransitive).  It  may  be 
well  at  this  point  to  require  the  pupils  to  rewrite  the 
sentences  in  their  books  which  contain  an  object  after 
the  verb,  making  the  word  denoting  the  object  the 
subject.  "The  wind  shakes  the  house"  thus  changed 
will  become  "The  house  is  shaken  by  the  wind." 
The  joupils  will  thus  discover  that  transitive  verbs  have 
two  forms  or  voices  called  active  and  passive. 

In  teaching  the  verb  it  may  be  well  to  call  attention 
to  the  time  property,  and  especially  the  three  natural 
divisions  of  time,  —  past,  present,  and  future, — but  it 
will  be  a  mistake  to  attempt  to  teach  at  this  time  the 
modes  and  tenses  of  the  verb  exhaustively,  including 


LANGUAGE.  267 

the  participles.      Let  these  facts  and  forms  remain  for 
future  discovery  and  study. 

In  these  first  lessons,  designed  to  be  introductoiy  to 
the  study  of  technical  grammar,  no  attempt  should  be 
made  to  teach  formal  definitions  and  rules.  The  chief 
aim  should  be  to  give  the  pupils  the  concepts  and 
facts  of  grammar  as  they  are  met  in  language.  It  will 
be  time  to  attempt  formal  definitions  of  grammatical 
terms,  when  the  study  of  the  subject  by  means  of  a 
text-book  is  undertaken. 

It  is  not  deemed  necessary  to  add  many  suggestions 
respecting  the  teaching  of  English  grammar  when 
pupils  are  prepared  for  the  study  of  a  study  of 
text-book.  It  must  suffice  to  say  that  Text-book, 
their  attention  should  be  directed  to  the  mastery  of 
the  more  important. facts  and  principles,  and  to  this 
end  these  should,  one  by  one,  be  made  familiar  by 
continued  drills.-  The  ordinary  text-books  present  too 
few  sentences  for  analysis  and  parsing,  and  as  many 
other  sentences  as  may  be  needed  should  be  added 
by  the  teacher.  When  the  more  essential  facts  and 
principles  have  thus  been  mastered,  — and  this  may 
require  a  school  year, — the  subject  as  presented  in  the 
text-book  should  be  reviewed.  There  should  now  be 
clean  and  thorough  work. 

In  correcting  errors  in  language,  great  care  should 
be  taken  not  to  make  the  pupils  too  familiar  with  the 
errors  corrected.  They  should  both  speak  and  write 
the  correct  forms,  not  the  incorrect.  The  habit  of 
correct  speech  is  largely  "caught"  by  speaking  cor- 
rectly, and  hence  an  error  in  speech  should  not  be  re- 
peated by  the  pupil. 


268  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 


GEOGRAPHY. 

The  teaching  of  geography  has  received  for  many 
years  past  increasingly  wide  and  earnest  attention,  and 

Progress  this  has  rcsultcd  in  progress  in  several 
Made.  directions.  More  attention  is  given  to  oral 
instruction  and  map  drawing  than  formerly,  less  time 
is  wasted  on  unimportant  details  and  in  memorizing 
the  descriptive  text,  and  an  increasing  number  of 
teachers  are  making  the  facts  and  principles  of 
physical  geography  the  basis  of  their  instruction  in 
the  higher  classes.  The  discouraging  fact  is  that  not 
one  of  these  important  changes  has  as  yet  been  made 
in  the  majority  of  American  schools.  It  is  believed 
that  many,  if  not  most,  teachers  are  still  "going 
through  "  the  text-books  in  geography  in  the  old  way. 

One  reason  for  this  state  of  things  is  the  impression 
among  teachers  that  the  adoption  of  more  rational 
Method  and  methods  of  teaching  geography  depends 
Text-book.  q,-j  |-j^g  ^^^  q^  tcxt-books  cmbodyiug  these 
methods.  It  is  true  that  a  suitable  text-book  is  a 
valuable  aid  in  teaching  any  branch  of  study,  especi- 
ally in  its  higher  phases,  but  no  intelligent  teacher 
need  follow  a  wrong  method  of  teaching  because  it 
is  embodied  in  the  book  used  by  his  pupils,  and  this 
is  especially  true  in  teaching  geography.  Quite  satis- 
factory success  has  been  attained  in  this  branch  in 
connection  with  the  use  of  the  least  progressive  text- 
books. Experience  fully  shows  that  a  rational 
method  of  teaching  geography  is  less  dependent  on  a 


GEOGRAPHY.  269 

suitable  text-book  than  a  poor  method.  The  more 
bookish  and  mcmoriter  the  method,  the  more  essential 
is  a  good  text-book. 

It  may  also  be  noted  that  there  is  no  other  branch 
of  study  in  which  the  method  of  teaching  to  be  used 
depends  less  on  the  objects  or  purposes  to  objects  or 
be  attained.  Whether  the  purpose  be  the  Ends, 
discipline  of  the  mind,  or  the  culture  of  the  imagina- 
tion, or  obtaining  a  basis  for  the  intelligent  study  of 
history,  or  for  reading  to  obtain  information  of  current 
events,  or  for  the  purposes  of  commerce  and  travel, 
the  best  results  are  reached  by  essentially  the  same 
general  method  of  instruction.  What  is  most  needed 
for  each  and  all  of  these  ends  is  the  furnishing  of  the 
mind  with  definite  pictures  of  different  portions  of  the 
earth's  surface — mental  maps  which  will  give  a  "local 
habitation  "  to  terrestrial  affairs.  These  mental  maps 
must  be  something  more  than  form  and  color,  repre- 
senting outline  and  relief,  though  a  good  "eye 
picture"  is  important.  They  must  also  picture  the 
globe  as  man's  dwelling-place,  and,  to  this  end,  they 
must  represent  the  important  facts  related  to  human 
life — to  man's  interests  and  achievements. 

The  wise  adaptation  of  the  matter  and  method  of 
instruction  in  geography  to  the  varying  capability  of 
the    pupils    (page    100)    gives    three   some-      courses  of 
what  distinct  courses  of  study,  as  follows :        study. 

1.  An  oral  course  in  home  geography,  based  on  the 
study  of  things. 

2.  An  intermediate  course,  with  the  use  of  globes, 
outline  maps,   and  text-books, 

3.  A  course  in  physical  geography. 


2  /O  EL  EM  EN  TS  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 

The  characteristic  features  of  these  several  courses 
of  instruction,  with  more  or  less  attention  to  method, 
will  now  be  considered. 

I.   Oral  Course  in  Home  Geography. 

The  first  lessons  in  geography  should  teach  those 
primary  concepts  and  facts  which  are  the  elements  of 
First  all  geographical  knowledge,  and  since  these 
Steps.  simple  elements  of  knowledge  can  only  be 
acquired  by  the  study  of  things  (page  113),  the  in- 
struction must  be  objective  and  oral.  Geography  is 
the  one  elementary  branch  that  looks  out  to  nature, 
and  its  study  must  begin  with  the  observation  of 
nature,  first  as  bounded  by  the  horizon  line  that  shuts 
in  the  child's  little  world  of  home — nature  as  pre- 
sented to  the  eye;  and  then  as  it  may  be  pictured  by 
the  imagination. 

The  primary  concepts  and  facts  of  geography  thus 
to  be  taught  include  those  of  position,  direction,  dis- 

Primary  tauce,  surfacc,  map  representation,  land 
Knowledge.  ^^^  water,  soil,  climate,  natural  produc- 
tions (including  trees  and  plants,  fruits,  grains  and 
grasses,  garden  vegetables,  animals,  domestic  and  wild, 
etc.),  the  occupations  of  men,  races  of  men,  etc. 
The  attempt  to  embody  this  primary  knowledge  in  a 
book  for  pupils  to  study  has  always  failed  and  must 
fail.  Such  lessons  must  be  taught  orally,  and  in  giv- 
ing them  the  teacher  must  be  careful  to  tell  the  pujjils 
nothing  whicli  they  can  be  led  to  observe  for  them- 
selves. 

It  is  not,  however,  meant  that  all  the  instruction 
should    be    limited    to    objects    which    lie    within    the 


GEOGRAPHY.  2/ 1 

observation  of  the  pupils.  Many  of  the  facts  taught 
objectively  should  be  made  stepping-stones  to. kindred 
facts  lying  beyond  the  horizon  of  the  senses.  The 
pupils  may  thus  be  led  from  the  seen  to  the  unseen, 
from  the  known  to  the  related  unknown.  Instruction 
thus  relating  to  other  portions  of  the  earth  sh oiild  be 
given  in  such  a  manner  as  not  only  to  interest  the 
pupils,  but  to  lead  them  to  picture  mentally  the  ob- 
jects described,  and  hence  it  should  be  addressed  to 
the  imagination  in  a  lively  manner. 

In  view  of  the  difficulties  experienced  by  teachers 
in  arranging  this  primary  instruction  in  geography,  I 
present    below    the    syllabus    of   a    course, 

^  .  -^     .  Syllabus. 

developing  somewhat  in  detail  both  the 
matter  and  method  of  instruction.  It  will  be  seen 
that  the  course  contains  many  of  the  topics  once 
taught  under  the  name  of  "object  lessons,"  including 
lessons  on  plants,  animals,  minerals,  etc., — all  clearly 
belonging  to  primary  geography.  The  grouping  of 
these  topics  under  the  general  subject  of  geography 
will  assist  in  removing  the  growing  impression  that 
too  many  branches  are  taught  in  elementary  schools. 
The  instruction  indicated  should  run  through  the  first 
three  or  four  years  of  school. 


Syllabus  of  Oral  Lessons  in  Home  Geographv. 

Teach    objectively   the    relative    positions    expressed    by    the 
terms   over  and   under,   above  and  below,   in,  on  or  upon,  etc. 
This  may  be  done  by  placing  objects  in  these  re-      Position  or 
lations  to  each  other  and  asking  questions.     The         Place, 
pupils  may  also  be  requested  to  hold  a  book  over  a  slate,  under  a 
slate ;  to  i)ut  a  book  on  the  tabic,  in  the  drawer,  etc. 


272  ELEMENTS  OF  FED  A  GOG  Y. 

Next  teach  the  terms  right,  left,  front,  back.  Pupils  hold  up 
the  right  hand ;  the  left  hand.  They  step  two  steps  to  the  right , 
two  steps  to  the  left.  They  change  positions  and  point  to  the 
right ;  to  the  left.  One  pupil  stands  in  front  of  the  teacher ; 
another,  back  of  the  teacher.  Pupils  name  objects  in  the  school- 
room at  their  right,  left,  front,  and  back.  The  teacher  names 
objects  and  the  pupils  locate  them. 

Pupils  are  requested  to  stand  in  front  of  the  class  and  name 
objects  located  by  the  teacher ;  then  to  locate  objects  named  by 
the  teacher.  A  pupil  faces  the  table  and  points  to  its  front  edge, 
back  edge,  right-hand  edge,  left-hand  edge,  etc.  He  takes  a 
different  position  and  names  or  locates  the  front,  the  back,  etc. 
The  exercises  are  to  be  varied  and  continued  until  the  pupils 
have  clear  ideas  of  these  relative  positions. 

Teach  the  directions  east  and  west  by  referring  to  the  rising 

sun  and  to  the   setting   sun.     Have   pupils  face  the  east,  face 

^  the  west ;  point  to  the  east,  point  to  the  west ;  walk 

Direction.  ^  ' 

toward  the  east,  walk  toward  the  west,  etc. 

Pupils  stand  with  their  right  hands  toward  the  east  and  their 
left  hands  toward  the  west,  and  are  *^nld  that  their  faces  are  to 
the  north  and  their  backs  to  the  south.  They  point  north  and 
then  south.  They  walk  north  and  then  south.  They  face  the 
north,  the  south,  the  east,  the  west.  They  face  successively 
north,  east,  south,  and  west,  and  tell  in  each  instance  the  direc- 
tion of  their  right  hand,  letl  hand,  face,  back. 

Pupils  point  to  the  north  side  of  the  school-room,  south  side, 
east  end,  west  end.  One  pupil  takes  a  position  near  the  north 
wall  of  the  school-room  (No.  i),  another  near  the  east  wall  (No. 
2),  a  third  near  the  south  wall  (No.  3),  and  a  fourth  (No.  4) 
near  the  west  wall.  No.  i  points  to  No.  3  and  gives  the  direc- 
tion, and  No.  3  to  No.  i.  No.  2  points  to  No.  4  and  gives  direc- 
tion, and  No.  4  to  No.  2.  No.  i  walks  south,  No.  3  north.  No.  2 
west,  No.  4  east,  etc. 

Pupils  tell  in  what  part  of  the  room  the  front  door  is,  the 
teacher's  desk,  the  clock,  stove,  etc.  They  give  the  directions 
of  the  cracks  in  the  floor,  the  backs  of  seats,  sides  and  ends  of 
the  room,  etc.  They  name  some  object  north  of  the  school- 
house  ;  east,  west,  south.  Pupils  tell  in  what  direction  they  walk 
in  coming  to  school,  in  going  home,  etc. 


GEOGRAPHY.  273 

Teach  the  pupils  that  the  direction  between  north  and  east 
is  north-east.  What  direction  between  north  and  west  r  South 
and  east  ?  South  and  west  ?  Pupils  face  the  north-west ,  south- 
w.est ,  north-east ,  south-east.  They  name  an  object  in  the 
north-west  corner  of  the  room  ;  in  the  south-west  corner ,  north- 
east corner ;  south-east  corner. 

A  pupil  takes  his  place  in  front  of  the  class  and  walks  three 
steps  toward  the  north-west,  three  steps  south-west  Class  give 
.the  direction  from  the  teacher  to  different  objects  in  the  room ; 
from  the  school-house  to  the  churches,  hotels,  dwellings,  hills, 
woods,  ponds,  etc.,  in  the  vicinity ;  direction  of  these  objects, 
taken  two  and  two,  to  each  other. 

Two  pupils  take  a  long  string,  and,  standing  in  different  po- 
sitions in  the  school-room,  give  the  direction  each  to  the  other. 
They  tell  in  what  direction  a  fly  would  walk  from  one  end  of 
the  string  to  the  other.  /;/  what  direction  does  a  north  wind 
blow  ?     From  what  direction  .''     An  east  wind  ?    A  south  wind  ? 

If  the  direction  between  objects  in  above  exercises  can  not  be 
accurately  described,  let  the  class  say  "  nearly ;  "  as,  "  nearly 
north-east."  Whenever  the  observations  of  the  pupils  are  at 
fault,  give  them  an  opportunity  to  look  again.  Postpone  the 
answer  to  another  day,  if  necessary. 

Compare  objects  of  nearly  equal  length,  and  let  pupils  guess 
which  is  the  longer.  Draw  a  straight  line  upon  the  blackboard 
and  let   the  pupils  divide  it  into  two  equal  parts;  idea  of 

four  equal  parts ;  three  equal  parts.     Test  accuracy       Distance. 
by    measurement.     Supply    each    pupil    with    a    six-inch    rule.* 
Hold  up  pencils,  pen-holders,  etc.,  for  pupils  to  guess  the  length ; 
apply  the  rule  to  test  results. 

Teach  the  terms  length,  7vidth  or  breadth,  depth,  thickness, 
and  height.  Pupils  guess  the  length  and  width  of  books,  slates, 
window-panes,  desks,  etc.  Pupils  draw  lines  upon  blackboard 
three  inches  long,  four  inches,  nine  inches,  etc.,  and  apply  the 
rule  to  ascertain  the  exact  length. 

Show  the  pupils  a  foot-rule  and  a  yard-stick.  Draw  a  line 
one  foot  in  length  upon  the  blackboard ;  let  a  pupil  determine 


*  A  narrow  strip  of  strong  paper  accurately  divided  into  inches  will  answer. 


274  ELEMENTS  OE  PEDAGOGY. 

how  many  inches  there  are  in  it  by  actual  measurement.  Pupils 
guess  and  then  measure  the  length  of  lines ;  the  length  and 
width  of  the  blackboard;  of  the  floor;  of  the  window  frames; 
the  height  of  the  ceiling. 

They  estimate  the  width  of  the  street  in  yards,  the  length 
of  the  school-yard,  the  distance  between  trees,  etc.,  testing  the 
accuracy  in  each  case  by  measuring.  Two  pupils  stand  in 
various  positions,  guess  the  distance  between  them,  and  then 
measure  with  the  yard-stick.  They  guess  the  distance  between 
objects  placed  for  the  purpose. 

A  line  at  least  one  rod  in  length  is  provided.  The  pupils 
guess  distances  (at  first  under  five  rods,  then  under  ten,  next 
under  twenty,  and  so  on),  and  then  measure  them. 

Select  a  well  known  object  one  mile  from  the  school-house; 
compare  the  distance  to  prominent  objects  in  the  vicinity  with 
the  distance  to  this.  Give  the  pupils  as  correct  an  idea  as  pos- 
sible of  a  mill- — the  geographical  unit.  Let  them  estimate  the 
distance  they  come  to  school;  the  distance  from  the. school- 
house  to  well  known  objects,  as  the  post-office,  a  hill,  etc. 

Combine  direction  and  distance,  and  thus  review  previous 
lessons.  Let  the  pupils  give  direction  and  distance  between  ob- 
jects in  the  school-room  ;  the  direction  and  distance  to  prom- 
inent objects  in  the  neighborhood ;  estimate  the  number  of 
minutes  it  will  take  to  walk  to  each,  etc. 

Place  a  table  in  sucli  a  position  that  its  edges  shall  coincide 
with  the  points  of  the  compass,  and,  if  there  be  no  blackboard 

Map  of  on  the  north  wall  of  the  school-room,  fasten  on  it 
Table-top.  ^  large  piece  of  paper.  Have  pupils  stand  facing 
the  north.  Draw  on  the  board  or  paper  near  the  top*  a  hori- 
zontal line  one  half,  or  one  third,  or  one  fourth  of  the  length 
of  the  north  edge  or  side  of  the  table,  and  tell  the  pupils  that 
this  line  represents  the  table's  edge,  and  that  you  wish  them 
to  help  you  complete  a  picture  of  the  top  of  the  table.  Next 
start  a  line  from  the  east  end  of  the  line  on  the  board  and 
perpendicular  to  it,  and  have  pupils  measure  the  edges  of  the 
table  to  determine  how  long  it  must  be  drawn  ;  then  draw  it. 
Next  draw  a  line  representing  the  west  edge  of  the  table,  and 
then  a  line  representing  the  south  edge.  Call  this  a  map  of 
the  top  of  the  table.     Teach  the  pupils  that  the  upper  edge  of 


GEOGRAPHY.  275 

the  blackboard  is  the  north  edge,  the  bottom  edge  the  south,  the 
right-hand  edge  the  east,  and  the  left-hand  edge  the  west.  Have 
pupils  point  to  the  north  edge  of  the  map ;  the  east  edge ;  the 
south  edge ;  the  west  edge ;  the  north-east  corner ;  the  south- 
east corner ;  the  south-west  corner ;  the  north-west  corner. 

Next  place  on  the  table  at  different  points  objects,  as  an  ink- 
stand, bell,  box,  apple,  etc.,  and  then  locate  these  objects  on 
the  map,  pupils  assisting  in  determining  the  positions.  Outline 
pictures  of  objects  may  be  drawn,  or  they  may  be  represented 
by  initial  letters  or  figures.  Let  pupils  give  directions  between 
the  objects  on  the  table  and  then  between  their  representatives 
on  the  map.  Continue  the  drill  until  pupils  are  nearly  as 
familiar  with  direction  on  the  map  as  on  the  table-top.  Have 
the  pupils  draw  a  map  of  the  table-top  on  their  slates,  and  locate 
objects  on  the  table  on  their  map. 

The  next  step  will  be  to  draw  a  map  of  the  floor  of  the 
school-room,  on  a  definite  scale,  as  one  inch  to  the  foot. 
Measure  the  north  end  or  side  of  the  school-room,  Map  of 
and  draw  a  horizontal  line  to  represent  this  edge  of  School-room, 
the  floor.  Have  pupils  measure  the  other  sides  of  the  room  and 
complete  its  outline.  Then  locate  accurately  the  doors,  stoves, 
teacher's  desk,  etc. 

Let  the  pupils  locate  these  objects,  first  in  the  school-room 
and  then  on  the  map — "first  the  object  and  then  the  picture." 
Let  them  give  the  directions  between  the  objects,  taken  two  and 
two,  and  then  between  their  representatives  on  the  map — thus 
passing  from  the  real  objects  to  the  map.  Teach  what  is  meant 
by  the  boundaries  of  the  room;  of  a  farm.  Have  the  pupils 
copy  this  map  on  their  slates. 

Next  draw  a  map  of  the  school-yard  or  the  square  in  which 

the  school-house  is  situated,  determining  comparative  length  of 

sides  by  measurement.     Locate  a  few  objects  and     ^  . 
,.,,.,.  ,  ,  ,      1  •  Other  maps, 

drill  \\\  direction,  passing  from  the  real  objects  to 

their   representatives    on    the    map.     To   familiarize    the    pupils 

with  direction   on    a  map,  place    a   figure  at   the  center  of  the 

map,  and  at  the  middle  of  each  side  and  each  end,  and  then 

ask  the  direction  from  i  to  2,  2  to  i  ;   i  to  4,  4  to  I  ;  2  to  3,  3 

to  2,  etc. 


276  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

Draw  on  a  definite  scale  a  map  of  the  township,  villaj^e,  or 
city  in  which  the  school  is  located,  representing  thereon  the 
principal  streets,  streams,  hills,  buildings,  etc.,  and  then  drill 
pupils  on  this  map  as  above.  Continue  until  they  can  readily 
give  directions  between  objects,  locate  them  by  words,  and  can 
readily  draw  the  map. 

Develop  the  idea   of  surface,  showing    that    surface  may  be 

smooth  or  rough,  even  or  uneven.     Take  a  large  sheet  of  paper 

and  place  it  on  the  floor  or  table,  and  call  it  an 
Surface. 

even  surface ;  then  crumple  the  paper,  thus  making 

the  surface  uneven.     Have  pupils  point  out  an  even  surface  of 

ground  near  the   school-house ;    also  an  uneven  surface.     Talk 

about  the  near  farms,  whether  even  or  uneven,  and  describe  the 

difference  in  the  roads  in  an  even  and  an  uneven  country. 

Next  develop  the  idea  of  a  level  surface  and  a  sloping  or 
inclined  surface.     Point  to  the  top  of  the  table  and  ask  whether 

Level  or        level  Or  sloping  ;  tip  the  table  by  lifting  one  end  of 

Sloping.  it_  and  then  ask  whether  the  top  be  level  or  sloping. 
Have  pupils  hold  their  slates  in  a  level  position  ;  in  a  sloping 
position.  Show  that  water  runs  readily  off  from  a  sloping  sur- 
face ;  the  effect  on  running  water  if  the  slope  be  increased. 

Next  develop  the  idea  of  a  plane.     Take  a  straight  edge,  as  a 

yard-stick,  and  put  it  in  different  positions  on  the  top  of  the  table, 

Plane         and  let  the  pupils  see  how  the  edge  rests  uniformly 

Surfaces.  on  the  table.  Put  a  sheet  of  paper  smoothly  on  the 
table  and  apply  the  straight  edge  again  ;  then  crumple  up  the 
paper  and  apply  the  edge,  calling  the  attention  of  the  pupils  to 
the  great  difference.  Tell  them  that  the  top  of  the  table  is  a 
plane  surface,  and  ask  whether  the  floor  is  a  plane  surface,  the 
walls  of  the  room,  the  ceiling,  etc.  Then  show  that  a  plane  may 
be  level  or  sloping ;  ask  what  kind  of  a  plane  is  the  top  of  the 
table ;  tip  the  table,  and  ask  what  kind  of  a  plane  it  now  is. 
Show  that  level  land-surfaces  are  called  plains  (not  planes). 
Ask  pupils  to  find  a  small  plain  near  the  school-house.  Lead 
the  pupils  to  see  by  imagination  larger  plains, — plains  that  con- 
tain a  number  of  farms,  etc. 

Next  develop  the  concept  of  a  hill,  and  make  a  picture  of  one 
on  the  blackboard.  Teach  the  ideas  represented  by  the  words 
foot  or  base,  sides  or  slopes,  top  or  summit,  and  the  height  of 


GEOGRAPHY.  2  77 

the  hill.  The  last  idea  can  best  be  tauErht  by  moldintj  a  hill  in 
sand,  andi  after  teachincr  its  parts,  running^  a  needle  Hin  and 
or  wire  from  the  top  vertically  to  the  plane  of  the  Mountain, 
base.  Show  that  the  height  is  less  than  the  length  of  the  slope. 
Teach  distinction  between  a  hill  and  a  mound — the  one  a 
natural  elevation  of  land ;  the  other  artificial.  Help  the  pupils 
to  imagine  a  very  high  hill,  and  call  it  a  mountain  ;  describe  as 
vividly  as  possible  some  noted  mountain. 

Next  call  attention  to  a  ridge  or  range  of  hills.     If  there  be 
one  in  the   neighborhood,  use   this  ;    if  not,  show       Ridges  of 
the  pupils  a  picture  of  such  a  range,  or  mold  ranges  HiUs. 

of  hills  in  sand,  and   then    develop  an  idea  of   a  valley. 

The  next  lesson  may  develop  the  idea  of  a  stream  of  water, 
beginning  with  a  stream  well  known  to  the  pupils.  Teach  what 
is  meant  by  running  water  and  by  still  water ;  Stream  of 
what  is  meant  by  the  current  of  a  stream  ;  why  Water. 
the  water  has  a  current ;  why  some  streams  are  more  rapid 
than  others ;  why  boats  can  not  ascend  some  rivers ;  what  is 
meant  by  a  water-fall.  Tell  the  pupils  about  famous  rapids  in 
rivers;  also  something  of  interest  about  some  famous  falls,  as 
Niagara  Falls. 

Draw  the  picture  or  map  of  a  stream  of  water  on  the  board, 
and  teach  what  is  meant  by  the  source  or  sources  of  the  stream, 
its  course,  and  its  mouth  ;  also,  the  banks  of  the  stream,  the 
right  bank,  the  left  bank;  its  channel  and  its  bed;  its  branches, 
etc.  Write  all  these  terms  on  the  board;  also  the  names  applied 
to  a  small  stream,  as  creek  and  brook ;  then  develop  the  idea 
of  a  river,  and  apply  appropriate  terms  above  to  it. 

N.  V>.— Teach  no  formal  definitmis  at  this  stage,  but  see  that 
concepts  and  ideas  are  clearly  in  mind,  and  that  the  proper 
words  are  closely  associated  with  them. 

Develop  the  concept  /akc,  beginning  with  a  known  pond,  if 
pupils  have  not  seen  a  lake.  Comparq  a  pond  and  a  stream — 
one  running  water,  and  the  other  still  water.  Show 
how  ponds  are  formed  ;  what  are  its  banks,  its  bed, 
its  depth.  Enlarge  the  pond  in  imagination  until  it  is  a  lake 
large  enough  for  steamers  to  sail  on  it.  Describe  some  great 
lake,  its  waves  in  storms,  etc.;  describe  a  salt  lake. 


2/8  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

Draw  map  of  township  or  county  on  the  board  in  outline, 
and,  with  the  assistance  of  the  pupils,  indicate  the  location  of 
Map  of  ranges  of  hills,  if  any,  streams,  ponds  or  lakes,  the 
County.  village,  etc.;  and  then  by  questions  lead  the  pupils 
to  locate  the  more  interesting  of  these  objects  and  talk  about 
them.  In  this  simple  manner,  the  pupils  may  acquire  some 
knowledge  of  the  surface  of  the  country  where  they  live,  and 
its  representation  by  means  of  a  map — the  beginning  of  geo- 
graphical knowledge. 

Have  the  pupils  name  the  different  kinds  of  trees  that  grow 
in  the  vicinity,  and  write  the  names  of  forest  trees  on  the  board; 
ask  pupils  to  bring  in  specimens  of  their  leaves ; 
teach  them  to  recognize  the  more  common  trees 
by  their  leaves  and  bark.  Teach  the  uses  of  the  trees  nam^d ; 
the  difference  between  a  shrub  (a  dwarf  tree)  and  a  sapling 
(young  tree) ;  the  diameter  and  height  of  the  largest  trees  seen 
by  the  pupils ;  distance  to  the  limbs,  etc.  Tell  the  pupils  about 
the  mammoth  trees  of  California. 

Take  a  small  shrub  and  show  it  to  the  pupils.  Lead  them 
to  see  its  several  parts,  as  roots,  stalk  or  trunk,  branches,  and 
leaves ;  write  the  names  on  the  board.  Teach  how  trees  grow 
from  seeds  or  slips ;  what  their  food  is,  and  how  received — the 
"mouths"  of  the  tree;  what  is  taken  through  the  roots;  what 
through  the  leaves  and  green  sprouts ;  how  to  tell  the  age  of  a 
tree ;  what  becomes  of  wood  when  burned ;  how  charcoal  is 
made,  and  what  use  is  made  of  it ;  what  use  is  made  of  ashes, 
etc. 

Next  develop  the  concept  forest  or  woods.  Begin  with  a 
known  grove,  with  its  cool  shade  in  summer ;  then  speak  of  the 
great  woods  or  forests,  covering  a  wide  extent  of  country ;  of 
the  wild  animals  that  live  in  some  great  forests ;  of  the  Indians, 
once  the  children  of  the  woods.  Describe  a  pine  forest  in 
winter,  especially  when  covered  with  snow ;  also,  a  Brazilian 
forest. 

Let  the  pupils  see  and  handle,  if  possible,  the  different  kinds 

of  earth,    as    sand,    clay,    loam,  etc.,   and   teach  them   what  is 

meant  by  a  sandy  soil,  a  clay  soil,  a  loam  soil ;  also, 
Soils.  .     .,         .,        ,  .,  ^^  ,  ., 

a  fertile  sou,  a  barren  sou,  etc.     Have  the  pupils 

locate  these  different  soils,  if  found  in  the  neighborhood.     Write 


GEOGRAPHY.         ■  279 

on  the  blackboard  the  names  of  the  more  common  grasses  with 
which  the 'pupils  may  be  familiar. 

Next  teach  the  different  grains  raised  by  the  farmers  in  the 

locality,  and   write   the    names,  as  given  by  the  pupils,  on  the 

blackboard;    also,  the  uses  of  each  grain  opposite 

°  '^^  Grains, 

its    name.     Write    also    the    names    of  the   grains 

raised   in   other   sections,  which   pupils   have   seen.     Tell  them 

about  the  great  wheat-fields  of  the  North-west ;    the  corn-fields 

of  Illinois ;  the  rice-fields  of  China  and  India. 

Next  take  up  the  garden  vegetables,  and  write  on  the  board 
the  names  of  the  more  common,  as  given  by  pupils ;  also, 
names  of  vegetables  raised  in  other  countries,  and     „ 

.  .  Vegetables, 

seen  by  the  pupils.     Give  a  lesson  on  the  pea-nut 

or  ground-nut.  Teach  the  use  made  of  the  beet  in  France  (man- 
ufacture of  sugar),  and  give  lessons  on  sugars — maple,  beet, 
cane,  and  sorghum. 

Several  lessons  may  be  given  on  fruits.  Write  on  the  board 
the  names  of  the  fruits  raised  in  the  vicinity,  as  given  by  the 
pupils.  Have  them  tell  how  they  grow,  how  cul-  pj-uitg. 
tivated,  for  what  used,  etc.  Next  write  on  the 
board  the  names  of  fruits  raised  elsewhere  and  imported.  Give 
lessons  on  oranges,  describing  an  orange  grove  or  orchard  in 
Florida  or  California ;  also  lessons  on  lemons,  bananas,  figs,  etc., 
using  specimens  of  the  fruits.  Give  lessons  on  wild  fruits;  on 
fruit  cultivation,  grafting,  etc.;  also  lessons  on  coffee,  tea,  and 
chocolate. 

Give  several  lessons  on  the  foods  of  the  people  in  different 
countries,  as  China,  Greenland,  Central  Africa, — foods  in  cold 
countries  and  in  hot  countries.     Speak  of  the  im- 

.        ,,  roods. 

portance  of  the  potato  in  Ireland  ("  potato  famme    ) ; 

rice  in  India  and  China;  the  date-palm  in  the  Sahara  desert,  etc. 

Next  take  up  the  plants  that  produce  material  for  clothing- 
flax,  where  raised,  how  dressed,  etc.;  cotton,  where       piants  for 
raised,   how   picked,   etc.;    hemp,   for    what    used.       clothing. 
Give  also  a  lesson  on  the  silk-worm,  its  food,  etc. 

The  animals  found  in  the  vicinity  should  next  receive  atten- 
tion.    Write  on  the  board  the  names  of   the  domestic  animals, 


280  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

Cirst  quadrupeds,  as  given  by  pupils,  and  have  them  designate 
Domestic  those  that  are  cud-chewers,  those  that  have  a 
Animals.  cloven  hoof,  those  that  eat  flesh,  those  that  are 
commonly  used  for  food  by  man ;  what  meat  is  called  beef,  what 
mutton,  what  pork,  etc.  Have  pupils  describe  the  teeth  and  feet 
of  the  cat  and  of  the  dog.  Give  lessons  on  the  making  of 
butter  and  cheese ;  on  the  horse,  the  sheep,  the  hog,  the  goat, 
the  camel,  the  reindeer,  the  elephant,  etc. 

Teach  the  wild  animals  of  the  vicinity, — those   that   live   in 
the  woods,  those    that   burrow  in  the  ground,  those   that   infest 
Wild  barns  and  houses,  those  that  are  hunted  for  their 

Animals.  f^j-^  those  that  are  hunted  for  food,  etc.  Give  les- 
sons on  the  squirrel,  the  opossum,  the  porcupine,  the  deer,  the 
bear,  the  buffalo,  the  tiger,  the  lion,  etc.,  using  pictures  of  the 
animals  not  known  to  the  pupils. 

Write  on  the  board  the  names  of  the  domestic  birds  (fowls) 

raised  in  the  vicinity,  as  given  by  pupils.     Have  the  pupils  tell 

„.  ,  the  use  or  value  of  each  to  man;    those  that  are 

Birds.  ' 

web-footed,  those  that  perch  at  night,  etc.  Give 
lessons  on  eggs,  the  hatching  of  the  young,  etc.  Next  let  pupils 
name  the  wild  birds,  and  designate  those  that  are  birds  of  prey, 
those  that  are  swimmers,  etc.  Give  lessons  on  the  owl,  the 
hawk,  the  pigeon,  the  ostrich,  the  condor,  etc. 

Give  lessons  on  reptiles,  including  those  found  in  the  vicinity 

and  those  found  in  other  countries,  as  the  alligator,  the  crocodile, 

Other         the  boa-constrictor,  etc.;  also,  lessons  on  insects,  in- 

Animais.  eluding  the  fly,  the  spider,  the  grasshopper,  the 
locust,  the  honey-bee,  etc.;  also,  lessons  on  fishes  and  other 
water  animals. 

Give  lessons  on  the  occupations  of  the  people  of  the  locality. 
Write  on  the  board  the  names  of  occupations,  the  names  given 
Occupations.  ^°  persons  engaged  in  them,  the  materials  and  tools 
used,  what  is  produced  or  made,  etc.  These  les- 
sons may  be  made  very  interesting  and  profitable.  Next  give 
lessons  on  the  kinds  of  houses  in  which  people  live,  the  clothing 
they  wear,  the  food  they  eat,  etc.,— including  people  in  different 
parts  Qf  the  world. 


GEOGRAPHY.  28 1 

Next  give  lessons  on  the  races  of  men — white  race,  black,  red 
(copper  -  colored),    yellow,    and    brown.     Write   on    the    board 
the   names    of  the    five   races,  and    opposite  each         Races  of 
the  names  of  peoples  belonging' to  it  as  given  by  Men. 

the  pupils,  including  Indian,  Negro,  German,  Irish,  French,  etc. 

Give  lessons  on  the  globe,  teaching  the  earth's  form,  motion 
on  its  axis  (causing  day  and  night),  and  the  general  distribu- 
tion of  land  and  water, — the  great  oceans,  conti- 
nents, and  islands  ;  next  give  lessons  on  the  paths 
of  the  sun  and  moon  in  the  heavens,  rising  in  the  east  and 
setting  in  the  west.  Teach  the  horizon,  horizontal  line,  and  hori- 
zontal plane ;  the  zenith  and  vertical  line,  using  a  string  with  a 
little  weight  attached  as  a  "plumb-line."  Have  pupils  tell  what 
kinds  of  Hnes  are  the  edges  of  the  floor  and  ceiling,  the  corner 
edges  of  the  walls,  etc.;  what  kinds  of  planes  are  the  floor, 
ceiling,  walls  of  the  room,  etc.  Review  direction  in  reference 
to  the  cardinal  and  semi-cardinal  points. 

Give  lessons  on  the  sun  and  moon — rise  in  the  east  and  set 

in  the  west,  as  the  earth  rotates  from  west  to  east ;  the  path  of 

the  sun  from  east  to  west ;  when  it  rises  north  of 

...  ,       ^         The  Sun. 

east  and  sets  north  of  west ;  when  it  rises  south  of 

east  and  sets  south  of  west ;   when  it  is  nearest  the  zenith  and 

when  farthest  from  the  zenith  at  noon ;  why  it  is  warmer  at  noon 

than    in    the    morning ;    why   it    is  warmer   in   summer  than  in 

winter.     Give  also  lessons  on  the  shadows  of  objects — at  what 

hour  of  the  day  objects  cast  the  shortest  shadow ;  at  what  season 

of  the   year    shadows    of    objects    observed    by   the   pupils  are 

shortest  at  noon  ;  at  what  season  longest  at  noon,  etc. 


Give  lessons  on  day  and  night — the  light  called  day  and  the 
darkness  night.  Days  long  in  summer  and  short  in  winter ; 
nights  the  reverse  :  winter  and  summer  evening-s  ;     ,         ,  ^. 

,  ,  ,       .  ^     '      Idea  of  Time. 

when  day  and  night  are  equal.     What  constitutes 
a   natural  day ;    when  the  day  begins — Babylonians  began  the 
day  at  sunrise ;  the  Jews,  at  sunset ;  our  day  (civil)  begins  and 
ends  at  midnight ;  number  of  hours  in  a  day. 
W.  P.— 24, 


282  ELEMENTS  OE  PEDAGOGY. 

Develop  the  idea  of  an  hour;  also  of  a  minute.  Number  of 
hours  school  is  in  session  each  half  day ;  how  often  the  clock 
strikes  ;  length  of  recess ;  how  many  recesses  would  make  an 
hour?  Let  the  school  be  silent  just  one  minute;  let  pupils 
guess  how  many  minutes  since  the  class  was  called  out ;  since 
the  time  of  silence ;  how  long  it  takes  pupils  to  walk  home,  etc. 
Teach  the  number  of  hours  in  a  day ;  minutes  in  an  hour. 

Give  lessons  on  the  use  of  clocks  and  watches ;  explain  the 

movements  of  the  hour  hand  and  minute  hand ;  how  to  tell  the 

time  bv  them:    sun-dials  used  before  clocks — how 
Clocks. 

made  ;  noon-marks,  useless  on  a  cloudy  day  ;  King 

Alfred's  method  of   measuring  hours    by   notched  candles;    the 
'hour-glass,  etc. 

Teach  the  number  and  names  of  the  days  of  the  week — Sun- 
day the  first  day,  Monday  the  second,  etc.;  number  of  weeks 
in  a  month ;  since  the  school-term  commenced  ;  before  it  closes  ; 
from  New  Year's  to  New  Year's,  a  year ;  from  one  birth-day  to 
another  a  year;  number  of  months  in  a  year;  number  of  weeks; 
number  of  days.  Time  table  may  be  written  on  the  board  and 
repeated. 

Give  lesson  on  the  four  seasons.     Spring — vegetation  springs 

from  the  ground ;  nature  clothes  herself  with  leaves  and  flowers  ; 

days  grow  longer  and  nights  shorter;    the  sun  at 

noon    is    more    nearly   overhead ;    names    of   the 

spring  months,  etc. 

Summer — the  sim  season;  the  sun  nearly  overhead  at  noon; 
long  days  and  short  nights  ;  haying  and  harvesting ;  grain  for- 
merly cut  with  a  sickle, — now  with  a  cradle  or  a  reaper;  grass 
cut  with  a  scythe, — also  with  a  mower ;  names  of  the  summer 
months,  etc. 

Autumn,  also  called  fall, — leaves,  fruit,  etc.,  fall  to  the 
ground;  the  days  grow  shorter  and  the  nights  longer;  position 
of  the  sun  at  noon  ;  the  farmer  gathers  his  corn,  potatoes,  apples, 
etc. ;  squirrels  gather  nuts  for  winter's  use  ;  frost  comes  ;  change 
in  color  of  leaves;  beautiful  foliage  of  trees,  etc. 

Winter — the  wind  season  ;  short  days  and  long  nights ;  sun 
not  as  near  overhead  at  noon  as  in  summer ;  snow  keeps  the 
earth  warm;  falls  very  deep  in  Canada;  sometimes  buries 
cattle,    sheep,    etc. ;   fences    covered ;  houses    almost    covered ; 


GEOGRAPHY.  283 

sleigh-riding  on  the  snow ;  snow  houses  of  the  Esquimaux  ;  no 

snow  in  many  countries;    a  great  many  people  never  saw  ice. 

Lastly,  teach    the    geography  of  the    State.     If  not  supplied 

with  a  good  map  of  the  Stare,  draw  one  in  outline  on  the  board. 

Estimate    the    number    of   days    it    would   take  to 

^  The  State, 

walk  across  the  State  in  different  directions ;  locate 

on  map  the  mountains  or  ranges  of  hills,  the  valleys,  plains, 
etc.;  the  rivers  and  lakes,  if  any ;  the  principal  cities,  railroads, 
canals.  Give  lessons  on  the  natural  productions,  animal,  veg- 
etable, and  mineral;  the  occupations  of  the  people;  the  colleges, 
public  institutions,  etc.,  etc. 


II.  The  Intermediate  or  Text-Book  Course. 

The  first  pages  of  nearly  all  geographical  text-books 
are  devoted  to  definitions,  and  these  should  be  care- 
fully taught — the  definitions  of  mathemat-  Teaching 
ical  terms  at  first  omitted.  If  the  prior  Definitions. 
oral  course  has  been  well  taught,  the  pupils  will  be 
quite  familiar  with  many  of  these  terms.  When  this 
is  not  the  case,  the  concepts  involved  should  be  care- 
fully taught.  The  following  illustrations  will  show  the 
method  to  be  pursued. 

In  teaching  the  definition  of  a  mountain,  begin  with 
a  known  hill  and  review  all  the  terms  applied  to  it,  as 
foot  or  base,  slopes  or  sides,  top  or  sum- 

1-1  T-N  ry  ■  c      Mountains. 

mit,  height,  etc.      Draw  a  profile   view  01 
it  on  board,  and  have  the  pupils  point  out  the  parts. 
Lead  the  pupils  to  the  definition,   ''A  full  is  a  nahirai 
elevation  of  land. ' ' 

Next  show  a  picture  of  a  very  high  hill,  and  de- 
scribe a  walk  to  the  top  of  it ;  have  pupils  point  out 
its  base,  summit,  east  side,  west  side,  and  south  side ; 
compare  the  slopes,  etc.;  and  then  lead  them  to  form 


2cS4  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

an  image  or  mental  picture  of  a  very  high  mountain. 
Call  attention  to  a  village  nearly  ten  miles  away,  and 
ask  pupils  to  imagine  the  village  and  the  surrounding 
country  lifted  up  until  the  village  is  above  the  clouds, 
and  the  school-house  at  the  foot  of  a  very  high  mount- 
ain— a  day's  walk  up  to  the  village ;  mountain  two 
miles  high.  Have  them  imagine  the  village  removed 
and  the  top  covered  with  snow  (a  white  cap) ;  no  trees 
or  shrubs  around  the  top ;  lower  down  skirted  with 
stunted  trees  and  bushes ;  still  lower  with  thick 
forests ;  near  the  base  with  farms,  extending  up  the 
sides.  Speak  of  the  view  from  the  summit,  clouds 
beneath  skirting  the  mountain  sides,  lightning  in 
clouds  below,  no  rain  on  top,  etc.  The  pupils  may 
thus  realize  the  meaning  of  the  definition,  '^  A  vioiint- 
ain  is  a  iiigJi  elevation  of  land." \ 

An  image  or  picture  of  a  mountain  chain  or  range 
may  in  like  manner  be  occasioned  in  the  pupil's  mind. 
Mountain  the  imagination  passing  from  the  known 
Chain.  range  or  ridge  of  hills  to  immense  mount- 
ain chains  or  ranges,  as  the  Rocky  Mountains  or  the 
Andes.  Describe  a  journey  over  the  Andes  on  the 
backs  of  mules,  the  journey  taking  two  or  three 
weeks;  the  passing  of  railroads  over  the  Alleghany 
Mountains  and  the  Rocky  Mountains — through  passes 
or  gaps.  Lead  pupils  to  define  mountain  chain,  table- 
land, gap,  or  pass. 

Show    a    picture    of   a  volcano — ashes   and    melted 

earth  and  stones    (lava)    thrown  out    from  the  inside. 

Describe    the    mouth    of    the    volcano,    or 

Volcano. 

crater;     an     eruption,     with     lava     flowing 
down    the    sides — cities    sometimes    buried.       Give    a 


GEOGRAPHY.  285 

vivid  description  of'  some  great  eruption ;  describe  an 
active  volcano ;  an  extinct  volcano.  Lead  pupils  to 
define  volcano,    lava,   o-atcr. 

Starting  with  the  little  plains  and  dales  which  the 
pupils  have  seen,  lead  them  to  a  true  conception  of  a 
large  plain  and  valley ;  all  plains  not  level ; 
a  gradually  rolling  country  a  plain.  Speak 
of  the  prairies ;  give  an  idea  of  the  great  valleys  in 
this  country ;  of  the  great  treeless  plains  of  the  West ; 
of  the  Sahara, — a  plain  without  grass,  shrubs,  or 
trees,  except  in  spots  called  oases.  Pupils  thus  led 
to  define  a  plain,   valley,  platcan,  prairie,   desert. 

To  teach  the  definition  of  a  river,  begin  with  the 
stream  of  water  known  to  the  pupils,  and  review  what 
has  been  taught  of  its  source,  course, 
mouth,  banks,  channel,  bed,  branches, 
rapids,  falls,  etc.,  and  then  lead  the  pupils  to  form  as 
vivid  an  image  as  possible  of  a  large  river  by  imagin- 
ing the  stream  as  wide  as  from  the  school-house  to 
some  object  a  mile  distant;  so  deep  that  the  water 
would  flow  over  the  top  of  a  tree  if  it  stood  in  the 
middle  of  it ;  and  so  swift  that  no  boy  in  school  could 
keep  up  with  a  floating  log.  Talk  about  steamboats, 
the  head  of  navigation,  freshets,  etc.;  describe  the 
Amazon,  the  Mississippi,  the  St.  Lawrence ;  lead 
pupils  to  define  a  spring,  a  brook  or  creek,  a  river. 

All  the  land  forms  above  defined  may  be  illustrated 
by  the  use  of  the  molding-board,  and  by  the  same 
means  pupils  may  be  assisted  in  forming  a 

-  ,         ,  ....  niustrations. 

concept  of  an   island,   penmsula,   isthmus, 

cape,  promontory,  etc.;  also  of  a  bay,  strait,  etc.;  but 

good  pictures  of  the  objects,   such  as  are  now  found 


286  ELEMENTS  OE  PEDAGOGY. 

in  most  manuals,  represent  them  much  better  than 
crude  sand  forms,  and  this  is  specially  true  of  the 
divisions  of  water.  A  heavy  rain  Avill  furnish  minia- 
ture islands,  peninsulas,  isthmuses,  capes,  bays,  straits, 
etc.,  and  for  teaching  purposes  these  real  objects  are 
much  superior  to  any  representations  that  can  be  made 
either  on  paper  or  in  sand.  It  is  a  mistake  for 
teachers  to  use  the  signs  of  things  when  the  real 
things  are  within  easy  reach.  The  pupils'  knowledge 
of  the  objects  taught  and  defined  should  now  be 
tested  by  recitations. 

The  mathematical  lines  used  on  maps,  the  zones, 
and  the  general  distribution  of  the  land  and  water 
Mathematical  masses   sliould  bc  tauglit   by   means  of  a 

Terms.  good  globc.  No  attempt  should  be  made, 
at  this  stage,  to  teach  mathematical  definitions,  but 
pupils  can  easily  be  taught  to  name  and  locate  the 
parallel  lines,  the  meridian  lines,  the  equator,  the 
tropics,  the  polar  circles,  and  the  poles,  and  they  can 
also  be  taught  the  seasons  of  the  several  zones,  and 
many  interesting  facts  of  climate,  productions,  etc. 
The  final  review  of  this  text-book  course  will  be  suffi. 
ciently  early  to  teach  the  formal  definitions  of  mathe 
matical  terms;  and  a  full  explanation  of  the  change 
of  seasons  may  be  deferred  until  the  study  of  physical 
geography  is  reached. 

Several  lessons  should  be  given  on   the   globc  with 

the  view  of  giving  the  pupils  a  correct  image  of  the 

Lessons  on     earth's    surfacc,    and    general    ideas    of   its 

Globe.        form,   motions,   etc.     These  lessons  should 

all  bc  reviewed  by  the  use  of  a  good  outline  map  of 

the  world,  which,  for  class  instruction,  is  much  superior 


GEOGRAPHY.  28/ 

to  an  ordinary  globe,  the  latter  being  too  small  for 
this  purpose. 

No  attempt  in  these  preparatory  lessons  should  be 
made  to  teach  details,  but  the  aim  should  be  to  give 
the  pupils  a  clear  outline  picture  of  the  earth's  sur- 
face, and  a  general  knowledge  of  its  continents, 
oceans,  climate  belts,  etc.  These  oral  lessons  on  the 
map  may  be  made  intensely  interesting  by  references 
to  the  typical  animals,  productions,  and  peoples  of  the 
different  zones. 

A  few  lessons  may  be  now  assigned  on  the  map  of 
the  world,  and  the  pupil's  knowledge  tested  by  search- 
ing recitations.  The  essential  thing  is  the  placing  of 
an  outline  map  before  the  class  when  reciting,  the  chief 
purpose  being  to  form  a  distinct  image  of  the  earth's 
surface  in  the  pupil's  mind. 

The  pupils  are  now  prepared  to  begin  the  study  of 
the  several  grand  divisions  or  continents,  beginning 
with  North  America.  The  teacher  should  orai  Lessons 
place  a  good  outline  map  before  the  class,  °"  "^^p- 
and,  with  a  pointer  and  by  questions,  he  should 
direct  the  pupils  in  a  study  of  the  form  of  the  conti- 
nent, its  irregular  coast-line,  the  contrasts  between  the 
eastern  coast-line  and  the  western,  the  surrounding 
oceans,  the  indenting  gulfs  and  bays,  the  adjacent' 
islands,  the  great  mountain  systems,  the  river  slopes 
and  river  systems,  the  great  plains  and  valleys,  the 
great  lakes,  the  climate-belts,  the  characteristic  prod- 
ucts of  each,  the  political  divisions,  etc.  The  aim  of 
these  preparatory  oral  lessons  should  be  to  interest 
the  pupils  in  the  study  of  North  America,  and  to  give 
them  true  conceptions  of  it  as  a  real  continent,  and 
not  simply  as  a  map. 


288  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

The  first  assigned  lesson  on  the  map  should  be  the 
drawing  of  the  continent  in  outline,  and  the  learning 
of  the  names  of  the  oceans,  seas,  and  the 
^'  larger  gulfs  and  bays.  The  pupils  should 
be  taught  to  draw  the  map  by  some  approved 
method.  It  will  be  found  a  good  plan  to  write  on 
the  board  in  their  order  (beginning  say  at  the  north- 
east part  of  the  map)  the  objects  to  be  represented 
and  learned,   thus : 

Oceans  and  Seas.  Gulfs  and  Bays. 

Atlantic  Ocean,  Hudson  Bay, 

Caribbean   Sea,  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence, 

Pacific  Ocean,  Bay  of  Fundy, 

Beliring  Sea,  Chesapeake  Bay, 

Arctic  Ocean.  Gulf  of  Mexico, 

Gulf  of  California. 

The  first  work  of  the  pupils  in  the  recitation  should 

be  the  drawing  of  the  map  in  outline  on  the  board ; 

and,  this  being  done,  they  should  severally 

Recitation.  ...  ,  . 

name  and  pomt  to  the  oceans  and  seas  ni 
their  proper  order,  and  also  the  gulfs  and  bays.  This 
shor.ld  be  done  rapidly  by  the  successive  pupils,  with- 
out any  prompting  and  without  the  asking  of  ques- 
^tions  by  the  teacher.  The  next  test  should  be  the 
asking  of  descriptive  questions;  as,  "What  ocean  east 
of  North  America?"  "What  bay  in  the  north- 
eastern part  of  the  continent?"  "Of  what  ocean  is 
it  a  part?"  The  teacher  may  next  give  the  names 
and  require  the  pupils  to  locate  the  objects  with  a 
pointer  and  /;/  words.  All  the  map  exercises  should 
be  interspersed  with  interesting  information  "thrown 
in"  by  the  teacher  or  "called  out"  from  the  pupils. 


GEOGRAPHY.  289 

The  Bay  of  Fundy  should  thus  be  associated  with  its 
high  tides,  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  with  the  Gulf  Stream, 
etc.  The  map  exercises  may  thus  be  made  to  glow 
with  interest. 

The  next  lesson  may  be  devoted  to  the  land  projec- 
tions seen  in  the  coast-line  of  the  continent.  The 
names  of  the  peninsulas  and  a  few  of  the  more  prom- 
inent capes  may  be  written  on  the  board,  memorized, 
and  recited  as  above  described.  The  next  lesson  may 
be  the  adding  of  the  adjacent  islands  to  the  outline 
map  as  drawn  by  the  pupils,  the  names  of  the  islands 
to  be  written  on  the  board  in  order,  and  then  memor- 
ized and  recited,  as  above.  Every  island  and  group 
of  islands  thus  studied  should  be  associated  with  inter- 
esting information  respecting  it.  The  teacher  should 
be  enthusiastic  in  his  efforts  to  awaken  in  his  pupils  a 
desire  to  know  more  of  these  ocean-girt  lands.  The 
maps  must  be  made  to  speak,  not  simply  to  the  eye, 
but  to  the  mind. 

The  succeeding  lessons  may  be  devoted  to  the 
mountains,  plateaus,  and  lower  plains;  the  rivers  (in 
systems)  and  the  lakes ;  the  climate-belts  and  their 
typical  products ;  the  political  divisions  and  their  cap- 
itals; the  chief  cities,  etc.  The  names  of  the  objects 
included  in  the  successive  lessons  should  be  written  on 
the  board  in  order,  the  objects  drawn  by  pupils  in 
their  outline  map,  the  map  reproduced  on  the  board, 
and  the  lesson  recited  as  above. 

It  may  be  well  to  require  the  pupils  at  each  recita- 
tion to  re-draw  the  entire  map  as  left  at  the         Map 
last  lesson,  and  then  add  or  insert  the  ob-      Dewing, 
jects  that  constitute  the  new  lesson,  the  aim  being  to 
give  the  pupils  sufficient   practice    to  enable  them  to 

W.  P.-35. 


290  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

draw  at  last  the  complete  map  accurately  and  with 
dispatch.*  No  attempt  should  be  made  to  secure 
finely  finished  maps.  They  sliould  be  off-hand  draw- 
ings, distinct  in  outline  and  filling,  with  few  details. 
The  drawing  of  the  maps  determines  the  order  in 
which  the  continent  is  studied  and  also  the  order  in 
which  the  topics  are  recited.  The  description  of  the 
continent  not  only  progresses  as  the  drawing  of  the 
map  progresses,  but  the  pupils  tell  "what  they  see 
in  the  map,"  instead  of  repeating  the  text.  When 
the  map  is  completed,  the  pupils  are  in  possession  of 
a  large  amount  of  information  respecting  North 
America,  and  the  map  represents  something  more 
than   "lines  and  dots." 

The  next  step  is  to  review  the  continent,  using  a 
good  outline  wall-map.     This  is  essential    to  the  best 

Review       rcsults.     The   maps    drawn  by   the   pupils 

Lessons.  havc  fixed  the  separate  features  in  the 
mind,  but  the  map,  as  a  whole,  is  more  or  less  inac- 
curate. The  review  with  an  accurate  outline  map 
before  the  eyes  of  the  pupils  will  give  them  a  more 
accurate  image  of  the  continent,  and  this  accurate 
mental  picture  is  the  important    result  to  be  attained. 

In  the  review,  the  pupils  should  locate  with  a 
pointer  and  name  the  successive  objects  in  their  order 
rapidly.  They  should  then  locate  with  a  pointer  and 
also  in  words. 


*The  value  of  sand-molding  as  a  means  of  teaching  the  structure 
or  relief  of  continents  and  countries  is  questioned.  The  sand  forms 
give  not  only  imperfect  but  erroneous  ideas  of  land  elevations  as 
compared  with  horizontal  distances.  Relief  maps  also  give  wrong 
impressions,  but  are  less  objectionable  than  sand  reliefs. 


GEOGRAPHY.  2gl 

In  the  final  review,  there  should  be  no  map  before 
the  class  when  reciting.  This  review  may  consist  of 
two  series  of  exercises:  viz.,  (i)  the  teacher  may  ask  de- 
scriptive questions  and  the  pupils  answer  by  giving  the 
names  of  the  objects  described,  then  adding  the  de- 
scription ;  and  (2)  the  teacher  may  name  objects  and 
the  pupils  give  a  descriptive  answer. 

When  the  map  has  been  thoroughly  reviewed  in 
this  manner,  the  map  questions  in  the  text-book  may 
be  used  for  final  review.  The  questions  which  relate 
to  objects  not  included  in  the  previous  map  lessons 
may  be  omitted  by  beginning  classes.  Their  mastery 
will,   however,  give  the  pupils  but  little  trouble. 

When  the  map  has  thus  been  thoroughly  mastered 
{the   essential  step),    the    pupils   may    next   study    the 
descriptive   text,*     Most  of  the  facts  here       g^^^   ^^ 
concisely  stated  are  familiar  to  the  pupils ;     Descriptive 
but,    in    assigning   the   lessons,    it    will   be 
well  for  the  teacher  to  "work  up"  anew  the  descrip- 
tion,  making  free   use   of  pointer  and   outline  maps. 
Many  interesting  facts  have  already  been  given  in  con- 
nection with  the  map  lessons.     These  and  other  facts 
can  now  be  so  grouped  as  to  give  the  pupils  a  vivid 
mental  image  of  the  continent  as  represented  by  the 
map.      At  this  early  stage,  lively  oral  teaching  should 
prepare   the  pupils    for    the    intelligent   study   of  the 
text,  and  to  this  end  oral  lessons  and  recitations  may 
alternate  (page   157). 


*It  may  be  claimed  that  the  thorough  map  study  here  commended 
gives  too  much  prominence  to  topography,  but  it  is  not  a  dead  and 
meaningless  topography  that  is  taught.  The  map  is  not  taught  as  an 
end  but  as  a  means. 


292  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

The  descriptive  text  may  be  recited  first  by  ques- 
tions and   then   reviewed   by   topics.      I   have  always 
preferred  special  topics,  or  topics  specially 

Recitations.      ^   ,  ,  ,  • 

adapted  to  the  continent  or  country 
studied.  This  involves  more  labor  on  the  teacher's 
part,  but  it  obviates  the  unprofitable  forcing  of  the 
descriptions  of  all  countries  into  the  same  form. 

The  lengths  of  rivers,  the  heights  of  mountains,  the 
areas  of  countries,  the  latitude  and  longitude  of 
islands,  cities,  etc.,  are  best  taught  by  comparison, 
the  pupils  fixing  in  memory  the  numerical  representa- 
tives of  a  few  objects,  and  then  learning  to  estimate 
others  by  the  eye.  Needed  accuracy  may  thus  be  se- 
cured, and  sufficiently  accurate  comparisons  may  often 
be  made  in  "the  mind's  eye."  A  pupil  who  has  a 
definite  mental  picture  of  the  earth's  surface,  and  has 
fixed  in  memory  the  latitude  of  a  few  well-chosen 
cities,  is  able  to  give  the  latitude  of  other  known 
cities  with  very  great  accuracy  without  referring  to 
the  map.  It  is  a  waste  of  time  to  attempt  to  mem- 
orize the  latitude  and  longitude  of  numerous  cities, 
islands,  etc.  The  populations  of  cities  are  also  best 
fixed  in  memory  by  comparison,  a  few  cities  being 
selected  as  bases. 

It  seems  unnecessary  to  add  that  tJie  pupils  should 
neithej'  be  reqiiired  nor  pennitted  to  commit  the  descnptive 
text  to  memory.  The  recitation  should  be  so  con- 
ducted as  to  require  the  pupils  to  state  what  they 
have  learned  in  their  own  language — a  few  definitions 
excepted.  They  should  not  only  give  the  more  im- 
portant facts  stated  in  the  text,  but  also  facts  taught 
orally  or  acquired  by  reading.  Special  pains  should 
be  taken  to  secure  accuracy  and  facility  in  speech. 


GEOGRAPHY.  293 


III.   Course  in  Physical  Geography. 

The  eighth  school  year  ought  to  find  pupils  suffi- 
ciently familiar  with  ordinary  maps,  and  with  sufficient 
geographical  knowledge,  to  enter  successfully  on  the 
study  of  physical  geography.  It  seems  a  mistake  to 
continue  the  study  of  the  facts  and  phenomena  of  the 
separate  continents  and  oceans  after  the  pupil  is  pre- 
pared to  study  them  in  their  relations  to  each  other 
and  to  the  globe  as  a  physical  organism.  Physical 
geography  gives  the  facts  of  common  geography  a 
new  meaning,  and  no  study  is  better  adapted  to  stim- 
ulate inquiry  and  thought.  The  reading  of  such 
books  as  Guyot's  "Earth  and  Man,"  and  Ritter's 
"Comparative  Geography,"  would  give  an  intelligent 
pupil  a  life-long  interest  in  the  structure  and  phe- 
nomena of  the  globe.  The  time  usually  devoted  to 
ordinary  geography  in  the  higher  grades  of  elementary 
schools  should  be  shortened,  and  one  or  two  years 
given  to  an  inspiring  and  broadening  study  of  geogra- 
phy as  a  science. 


294  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 


ARITHMETIC. 

The  teaching  of  arithmetic  passes  through  three 
somewhat  distinct  phases  or  courses,  the  first  covering 
a  period  of  two  to  three  years,  the  second  about  three 
years,  and  the  third  two  to  three  years.  These  courses 
may  be  called : 

1.  The  Primary  Course. 

2.  The  Elementary  Course  [Book], 

3.  The  Completing  Course. 

The  most  that  will  be  attempted  in  these  pages  is 
to  sketch  the  characteristic  features  of  the  methods 
employed  in  these  several  phases  or  courses  of  in- 
struction. 

I.     The  Primary  Course. 

The  first  step  in  teaching  a  number  is  to  develop  an 
idea  of  the  number  itself,  and  this  can  only  be  done 
by  objects.  A  number  is  neither  a  word  nor  a  figure, 
and  hence  it  can  not  be  taught  by  teaching  its  name 
or  the  figure  or  figures  that  express  it.  A  child  may 
learn  the  names  of  the  numbers  not  only  from  one  to 
ten,  but  from  one  to  one  hundred,  and  not  have,  as 
a  result,  a  clear  idea  of  a  single  number  named.  Ex- 
perience shows  that  clear  ideas  of  the  primary  numbers- 
are  slowly  acquired,  and  that  they  need  to  be  carefully 
taught. 

The  aim  of  the  first  series  of  lessons  in  number  is  to 

teach  objectively  the  numbers  from  oiie  to  ten  incbisive — 

First         the  primary  or  digital  numbers.      The  initial 

Lessons.      excrciscs  in  teachiner  these  numbers  include 


ARITHMETIC.  2g$ 

numbering,  combining,  separating,  and  taking  away 
groups  of  objects,  first  in  sight  and  then  not  in  sight, 
but  easily  imagined.  The  teaching  of  each  successive 
number  may  include  the  following  steps : 

1.  The  numbering  of  the  objects  in  any  group  from 
one  to  ten  inclusive,  zvithotit  cojuiting. 

2.  The  combining  of  any  two  groups  whose  sum 
does  not  exceed  ten,  witJioiit  counting;  and  (2)  the  sep- 
arating of  the  group  thus  formed  into  the  two  groups 
that  compose  it. 

3.  The  separating  of  any  group  not  exceeding  ten 
into  the  two  smaller  groups  that  compose  it,  and  then 
taking  successively  each  of  the  two  smaller  groups 
thus  found  from  the  original  group. 

4.  The  combining,  separating,  and  taking  away  of 
groups  of  objects  in  sight,  and  then  not  in  sight,  but 
easily  imagined, — no  group  exceeding  ten. 

5.  The  comparing  of  two  groups  of  objects,  in  sight 
and  not  in  sight,  to  see  how  many  objects  in  one 
group  more  or  less  than  in  the  other. 

6.  The  applying  of  the  processes  learned  to  the  so- 
lution of  easy  problems  involving  a  simple  exercise  of 
the  imagination  and  judgment. 

The  exercises  in  numbering  are  intended  to  develop 
the  power  to  recognize  at  sight,  ivitJiout  cojinting,  the 
number  of  objects  in  any  group  not  exceeding  ten  — 
a  power  essential  to  the  easy  mastery  of  the  other 
exercises.  It  is  claimed  by  primary  teachers  of  wide 
experience  that  the  majority  of  children,  when  they 
first  enter  school,  can  not  give  at  sight  the  number 
of  objects  in  a  group  exceeding  three.  A  few  weeks 
of  drill  will,  however,  enable  them  to  number  instantly 
any  group  not  exceeding  ten.     This  may  be  done  by 


296  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

an  unconscious  separation  of  the  larger  groups  into 
two  smaller  groups,  and  the  combining  of  these ;  but, 
howsoever  done,  the  act  is  practically  instantaneous. 
This  perceptive  power  is  not  only  fundamental  in 
combining  and  separating  groups  of  objects,  but  it  is 
also  of  great  value  in  practical  life. 

Special  attention  is  called  to  the  importance  of  avoid- 
ing in  these  objective  exercises  the  too  common  prac- 
tice of  counting  by  ones.  The  numbering,  combining, 
and  separating  of  groups  of  objects  by  counting  leads 
to  the  pernicious  habit  of  adding  and  subtracting  num- 
bers by  counting,  a  habit  that  must  be  overcome 
before  a  pupil  can  learn  to  add  or  subtract  numbers 
as  wholes.  When  a  child  can  number  a  group  of 
three  objects  at  sight,  he  should  be  taught  a  group  of 
four  objects,  as  three  and  one,  or  one  more  than  three, 
and  not  simply  as  four  objects.  It  is  not  only  unnec- 
essary to  number  four  objects  by  counting  one,  two, 
three,  four,  but  this  counting  is  likely  to  give  the 
child  the  erroneous  idea  that  the  first  object  is  one, 
the  second  two,  the  third  three,  the  fourth  four.  The 
child  must  see  the  entire  group  as  four  objects,  and 
when  he  has  learned  that  four  objects  are  also  three 
objects  and  one  object,  or  two  objects  and  two  objects, 
he  has  a  clear  idea  of  the  number  four.  The  easy 
and  quick  perception  of  the  sum  of  any  two  groups 
of  objects,  present  or  imagined,  sum  not  exceeding 
ten,  is  the  first  step  in  the  art  of  adding  and  subtract- 
ing numbers. 

The  combining,  separating,  and  subtracting  of  groups 
of  objects  not  in  sight  may  be  introduced  as  soon  as 
the  pupils  have  acquired  the  power  to  combine,  sepa- 
rate, and  subtract  groups  of  objects  in  sight.     The  true 


ARITHMETIC.  297 

order  is  first  the  combining,  separating,  and  subtract- 
ing of  groups  of  objects  in  sight ;  and,  second,  the 
combining,  separating,  and  subtracting  of  groups  of 
objects  not  in  sight,  and  the  second  step  may,  after 
a  few  lessons,  immediately  follow  the  first. 

The  purely  objective  and  concrete  exercises,  de- 
scribed above,    may,   in   due   time,   be  fol-       Abstract 

lowed    by:  Numbers. 

7.  The  adding,  separating,  and  subtracting  of  the 
corresponding  abstract  numbers. 

8.  The  making  of  the  figures  one  by  one  that  ex- 
press the  successive  digital  numbers  taught. 

9.  Board  and  slate  exercises  corresponding  to  the 
oral  exercises;  and  also  exercises  in  adding  numbers 
expressed  by  figures  written  in  columns,  sums  not 
exceeding  ten. 

These  drills  with  abstract  numbers  may  properly  be 
introduced  early  in  the  year,  but  so  strong  is  the 
tendency  of  teachers  to  use  abstract  numbers  to  the 
neglect  of  needed  objective  and  concrete  exercises, 
that  it  may  be  wise  to  recommend  that  abstract  num- 
bers be  entirely  excluded  from  the  first  year's  course. 
If  this  be  done,  there  is  no  danger  that  their  use  will 
be  omitted  or  neglected  in  the  succeeding  years. 

This  tendency  of  teachers  to  use  abstract  numbers 
in  primary  lessons  in  arithmetic,  is  largely  due  to  the 
fact  that  it  is  easier  to  drill  pupils  on  words  and  other 
symbols  than  it  is  to  teach  them  real  knowledge, — a 
fact  sadly  illustrated  in  the  memoriter,  word,  and 
figure  drills  which  have  so  long  characterized  school 
instruction. 

It  may  be  a  question  whether  children  should  be 
taught  the  figures,  and  the  use  of  them  in  slate  exer- 


298  ELEMENTS  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 

cises,  in  connection  with  these  first -step  lessons.  This 
doubtless  depends  on  the  age  of  the  children  taught. 
If  children  are  admitted  to  school  as  early  as  five 
years  of  age,  the  teaching  of  figures  may  be  wisely 
deferred  until  the  second  year,  or,  at  least,  until  the 
latter  part  of  the  first  year.  When  pupils  enter  school 
at  the  age  of  six  years  and  upward,  the  figures  may 
be  taught  after  a  few  days,  at  the  close  of  the  different 
series  of  lessons,  and  slate  and  board  exercises  may  be 
used  as  early  as  the  number  five  or  six  is  reached. 

The  skill  acquired  in  making  figures  the  first  year 
will  promote  the  progress  of  the  pupils  the  second 
year,  and  the  danger  that  the  use  of  the  figures  will 
lead  pupils  into  the  error  of  confounding  figures  with 
the  numbers  which  they  represent, — an  error  common 
among  pupils  who,  from  the  first,  use  figures  as  actual 
numbers — can  easily  be  avoided.  The  teacher  should 
take  pains  to  make  a  clear  distinction  between  num- 
bers and  their  signs — a  distinction  as  obvious  as  that 
between  an  idea  and  its  word  —  and,  what  is  even  more 
important,  he  should  not  in  speech  treat  figures  and 
numbers  as  identical.  It  is  wholly  unnecessary,  for 
example,  to  direct  pupils  to  add  the  figures  6  and  7. 
It  is  not  only  more  accurate,  but  as  easy,  to  say  the 
numbers  six  and  seven,  or,  more  briefly,  six  and  seven. 

There  is  a  kindred  error  in  confounding  numbers 
and  objects — the  group  of  objects  that  represents  a 
Abuse  of  number  to  the  eye,  being  considered  the 
Objects,  number  itself  The  teacher  says,  "Show 
me  the  number  three,"  and  the  pupil  holds  up  three 
fingers.  Now,  it  is  clearly  not  the  group  of  fingers  that 
is  the  number  three,  but  the  tJirceness  of  the  fingers — 
the  Jiow  many  in  the  group.     This  suggests  the  possi- 


ARITHMETIC.  2gg 

bility  of  keeping  pupils  numbering-,  combining,  and 
separating  groups  of  objects  m  sigJit  so  long  that  it 
may  be  difficult  to  iiusense  their  conception  of  number 
— to  secure  the  easy  apprehension  of  number  without 
reference  to  sensible  objects.  Pupils  should  soon  pass 
from  groups  of  objects  in  sight  to  those  not  in  sight, 
and  early,  but  not  too  early,  to  the  abstract  numbers/-^ 


The  aims  of  the  second  series  of  lessons  in  number 
are  (i)  to  teach  the  numbers  from  eleven  to  twenty 
inclusive,  and  their  representation  by  fig-  second 
ures ;  and  (2)  to  teach  the  adding,  sub-  series, 
tracting,  and  analyzing  of  numbers,  the  amounts  and 
minuends,  and  the  numbers  analyzed,  not  exceeding 
twenty. 

The  steps  or  drills  to  attain  the  second  aim  are  as 
follows : 

1.  The  adding  of  any  two  digital  numbers  without 
counting,  and  the  subtracting  of  each  from  their  sum. 

2.  The  separating  of  each   number,   not  exceeding 
twenty,    into  any  two  digital    numbers  that  compose 


*The  statement  has  been  made  that  a  child  can  not  think  an 
abstract  number.  If  the  word  "think"  is  used  in  the  sense  of 
image,  the  statement  is  obviously  true,  for  all  images  or  sense-con- 
cepts are  necessarily  particular  and  concrete.  But  if  the  word  think 
be  used  in  the  sense  of  apprehend,  the  statement  is  misleading.  No 
one  really  knows  a  number  until  he  apprehends  it  abstractly;  that 
is,  until  he  apprehends  the  abstract  number.  When  a  child  can 
think  seven  as  more  than  three  without  imaging  seven  and  three 
particular  objects,  he  apprehends  both  seven  and  three  as  abstract 
numbers. 

"  Nothing  is  a  surer  sign  of  high  intellectual  capacity  than  the 
power  of  quickly  seeing  and  easily  manipulating  ideas  of  a  very  alv 
stract  nature." — Francis   Gallon. 


300  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

it,  and  the  subtracting  of  each  number  thus  found  from 
the  original  number. 

3.  The  adding  of  two  or  more  equal  numbers, 
amounts  not  exceeding  twenty;  and  the  separating  of 
any  number,  not  exceeding  twenty,  into  all  the  equal 
numbers  that  compose  it. 

4.  The  applying  of  the  processes  learned  to  the  so- 
lution of  practical  problems,  involving  a  simple  exercise 
of  the  imagination  and  judgment. 

5.  Blackboard  and  slate  exercises  in  addition  and 
subtraction,  amounts  and  minuends  not  exceeding 
twenty. 

The  power  to  perceive  the  sum  of  any  two  digital 
numbers  without  counting,  and  the  difference  between 
either  of  two  digital  numbers  and  their  sum,  is  the 
basis  of  the  art  of  accurate  and  rapid  computation.  If 
this  power  be  acquired  the  first  two  years  of  school, 
the  time  devoted  to  the  teaching  of  number  has  been 
wisely  employed. 

The  teacher  should  keep  in  mind,  when  taking  the 
third  step  above,  that  the  adding  of  equal  numbers,  as 
Part  and  Fac-  four  3's,  is  not  multiplication,  and  that  the 
tor  Processes,  separating  of  a  number  into  the  equal  num- 
bers that  compose  it,  is  not  numerical  division.  The 
word  "times,"  and  the  factor  signs,  X  and  ^-,  should 
not  be  used  in  connection  with  these  exercises.  They 
are  exercises  in  addition  and  subtraction,  part  proc- 
esses, and  only  the  part  signs,  -f  and  — ,  should  be 
used. 

It  is  believed  that  nothing  is  gained  by  combining 
the  processes  of  multiplication  and  division  with  those 
of  addition  and  subtraction  in  the  foregoing  exercises. 
There  is  no  such  immediate  connection  between  these 


ARITHMETIC.  30I 

two  sets  of  processes  as  requires  the  teaching  of  them 
together.  The  concepts  and  processes  of  addition  and 
subtraction  relate  to  numbers  as  composed  of  parts, 
and,  being  inverse  processes,  should  be  taught  to- 
gether. The  concepts  and  processes  of  multiplication 
and  division  relate  to  numbers  as  composed  oi  factors, 
and,  being  inverse  processes,  should  likewise  be  taught 
together.  But  there  is  nothing  in  the  relation  of  these 
two  sets  of  inverse  processes  to  each  other  that  necessi- 
tates or  justifies  the  teaching  of  them  from  the  first  as 
correlates.  On  the  contrary,  there  are  strong  reasons 
against  the  mixing  up  of  these  two  sets  of  relations  in 
the  child's  first  lessons  in  number. 

The  primary  and  fundamental  processes  in  number 
are  addition  and  subtraction,  and  the  natural  and  best 
way  to  teach  a  child  to  add  and  subtract  numbers  is 
to  give  him  exercises  involving  these  processes.  Exer- 
cises in  multiplying  and  dividing  numbers  can  render 
little  assistance  in  these  first  lessons.  In  the  order  of 
acquisition,  the  processes  of  multiplication  and  division 
naturally  follow  those  of  addition  and  subtraction  ;  and 
skill  in  the  latter  makes-  the  mastery  of  the  former 
easy.  Nothing  is  gained  by  alternating  these  two  sets 
of  inverse  processes  in  the  first  lessons  in  number. 

The  addition  of  equal  numbers  and  the  separation  of 
a  number  into  equal  numbers  (third  step,  p.  300)  may 
be  accompanied  by  exercises  to  develop  the  idea  of  a 
fraction.  These  drills  should  first  include  the  division  of 
an  object,  as  an  apple,  a  piece  of  paper,  etc. ,  into  equal 
parts,  as  halves,  fourths,  thirds,  sixths,  etc.,  and  later 
the  division  of  groups  of  objects  into  equal  parts,  and 
naming  one  part,  two  parts,  etc.  The  fractions  should 
first  be  expressed  by  words  only,  and  later  by  figures. 


302  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

Nothing  is  gained  in  these  early  lessons  by  attempting 
to  teach  the  fraction  processes, — addition,  subtraction, 
multiplication,  and  division. 


The  aims  of  the  third  series  of  lessons  in  the  primary 

course  are  (i)  to  teach  the  product  of  any  two  digital 

numbers,  and  (2)  to  teach  the  division  of 

Third  Series.  ^     ' 

this  product  by  each  of  its  two  factors. 
The  steps  or  drills  to  attain  these  aims  are : 

1.  The  finding  of  the  number  corresponding  to  the 
product  of  any  two  digital  numbers,  by  adding  one 
of  the  numbers  to  itself  continuously  as  many  times 
as  there  are  units  in  the  other  given  number,  less  one, 
or  (2),  better,  by  adding  one  of  the  numbers  to  its 
product  by  a  number  one  less  than  the  other  number. 

2.  The  associating  of  the  product  of  any  two  digital 
numbers  with  these  numbers,  so  that  this  product  may 
be  discerned  instantly,  witJioiit  adding,  when  the  two 
given  numbers  are  presented  to  the  mind  as  factors. 

3.  The  teaching  of  the  division  of  any  product  by 
each  of  its  two  digital  factors  as  the  inverse  of  the 
process  of  their  multiplication. 

4.  Slate  and  board  exercises  in  multiplication  and 
division. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  finding  of  the  number 
which  corresponds  to  the  product  of  any  two  digital 
numbers  (first  step),  is  not  multiplication  proper,  but  a 
preparato}y  process.  This  number  may  also  be  found 
by  subtraction.  The  number  corresponding  to  the 
product  of  4  times  5  may,  for  example,  be  found  by 
adding  four  5's,  or  by  adding  5  to  15  (three  5's),  or 
by  taking  5  from  25  (five  5's). 


ARITHMETIC.  303 

In  teaching  the  multipHcation  of  the  digital  numbers, 
the  teacher  should  aim  to  associate  these  numbers,  two 
and  two,  with  their  products  so  directly  that  the  mind 
passes  from  factors  to  product  by  one  instantaneous 
act.  The  mind  should  pass  from  4X5  to  20  as  di- 
rectly ^nd  immediately  as  it  passes  from  4+5  to  9. 
There  should  be  no  adding  in  the  first  act  and  no 
counting  by  ones  in  the  second. 

The  association  of  the  digital  numbers,  two  and  two, 
with  their  products,  makes  possible  a  distinct  numer- 
ical process,  called  multiplication,  and  its  inverse  proc- 
ess, called  division.  The  existence  of  these  distinct 
processes  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  they  are  uniformly 
expressed  by  terms  that  are  never  applied  to  addition 
and  subtraction.  No  mathematical  terms  are  more  dis- 
tinct than  the  terms  add  and  imdtiply,  sum  and  product ; 
siibtract  and  divide,  difference  and  quotient.  Moreover, 
the  part  signs,  -\-  and  — ,  and  the  factor  signs,  X  and 
-^,  run  through  mathematics  from  elementary  arith- 
metic to  the  calculus,  and  they  never  indicate  the 
same  process  \  a  Y^  b  never  means  a  ^  b,  and  a  -^  b 
never  means  a  —  b. 

The  three  series  of  lessons  above  described  consti- 
tute the  primary  course  in  number;  and,  for  full  and 
detailed  methods  of  teaching  these  lessons,  use  of 
the  reader  is  referred  to  the  author's  "Oral  Text-book. 
Lessons  in  Number.''  It  must  suffice  to  add  that  when 
the  first  two  series  of  lessons  are  completed,  the  pu- 
pils will  be  prepared  to  use  an  elementary  arithmetic 
with  advantage.  The  putting  of  a  suitable  arithmetic 
into  the  hands  of  pupils  as  early  as  the  third  year  will 
not  only  increase  their  interest  and  otherwise  promote 
their  progress  in  number,  but  it  will  greatly  relie\'e  the 


304  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

teacher  of  unnecessary  labor — not  an  unimportant  con- 
sideration. 

II.    The  Elementary  Course  [Book]. 

The  aim  of  this  course  is  to  teach  all  elementary 
processes  with  both  integral  and  fractional  numbers, 
and  also  those  applications  which  are  most  frequently 
used  in  business  and  common  life,  including  United 
States  money,  common  measures  (not  metric),  men- 
suration, percentage  (elements),  and  simple  interest. 
The  integral  numbers  used  are  larger  than  those  in  the 
primary  course,  and  the  fundamental  processes  are 
more  clearly  differentiated,  the  processes  of  addition, 
subtraction,  multiplication,  and  division  being  treated 
separately,  this  being  specially  true  of  the  dissimilar 
written  processes. 

During  the   first  year  of  this  course  there  will  be 

little  occasion  for  the  use  of  objects,  all  the  primary 

Use  of       concepts  and   processes  used   having  been 

Objects.  taught  in  the  prior  course.  It  is  a  waste 
of  time  to  keep  pupils  of  this  grade  dealing  with  the 
sensible  representatives  of  numbers  when  they  are 
familiar  with  the  numbers  themselves.  The  use  of 
objects  is  a  means,  not  an  end.  A  simple  numerical 
process  may  be  made  difficult  to  a  child  by  an  elaborate 
objective  illustration,  and,  besides,  a  pupil  who  can 
easily  understand  such  illustrations,  when  presented  in 
a  book,  does  not  need  them.  The  complex  illustrations 
of  the  decimal  notation,  both  of  integers  and  fractions, 
found  in  some  elementary  arithmetics,  is  an  example 
of  this  misuse,  if  not  abuse,  of  the  objective  method. 
The  pupil  who  has  been  properly  taught  the  expres- 


ARITHMETIC.  305 

sion  of  numbers  from  i  to  100  and  then  to  1000,  has 
the  key  to  the  decimal  notation,  and  all  that  he  needs 
to  master  the  system  is  a  well-graded  series  of  exer- 
cises for  practice. 

All  new  concepts  and  all  initial  steps  in  new 
processes  should  be  taught  objectively,  or,  when  the 
presence  of  objects  is  not  necessary,  with  concrete 
numbers.  The  common  money  units  in  United  States 
money,  and  the  more  common  measures  which  are  the 
basis  of  denominate  numbers  and  mensuration,  should 
be  taught  objectively,  and  many  of  these  units  of  meas- 
ure should  be  taught  in  the  primary  course,  and  always 
by  presenting  and  using  the  actual  measures.  No 
pupil  should  memorize  tables  of  denominate  numbers 
before  he  has  clear  concepts  of  the  measures  back  of 
them.  The  memorizing  of  the  table  is  the  end  and 
not  the  beginning  of  such  training. 

All  of  the  new  written  processes  in  elementary  arith- 
metic should  be  introduced  by  inductive  oral  exercises, 
usually  with    concrete    numbers,    the  tran-       _,   ,      , 

J  '  Oral  and 

sition  from  the  clearly  apprehended  oral  written 
process  to  the  written  being  easy  and  nat- 
ural. An  important  condition  of  success  in  teaching 
elementary  arithmetic  is  t/ie  skillful  imion  of  oral  or 
mental  processes  and  wj'itteji  processes.  The  essential 
thing  is  the  wise  selection  and  grading  of  the  inductive 
examples,  and  the  training  of  the  pupils  in  their  oral 
solution  until  the  mental  process  is  clear  and  familiar. 
The  transition  to  the  written  process  is  then  easy. 
All  that  is  necessary,  in  most  cases,  is  to  draw  out 
from  the  pupils  by  questions  and  put  on  the  black- 
board the  written  solutions  of  two  or  three  of  the  oral 
examples  in  connection  with  the  oral  solutions.      But 

W.  p.— 26. 


306  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

this  step  should  not  be  taken  until  tlie  i7iduciive  exer- 
cises have  all  been  recited  07-ally.  The  pupils  should 
first  master  the  oral  processes,  and  then  be  led  to  pass 
from  these  to  the  written  processes. 

All  the  written  problems  assigned  for  a  lesson,  should 
be  solved  by  the  pupils  on  slate  or  paper,  and  the  so- 
lutions should  be  brought  to  the  recitation  for  the  teacher  s 
inspection  and  approval.  The  solutions  should  be  made 
in  an  approved  form,  though  uniformity  is  not  neces- 
sary, and  they  should  be  arranged  in  a  neat  and  sys- 
tematic manner.  A  little  instruction  will  enable  pupils 
to  make  an  economic  use  of  space  in  slate  and  black- 
board work,  and,  at  the  same  time,  present  each  solu- 
tion in  an  intelligible  form.  When  the  solutions  of 
problems  are  properly  arranged  and  written,  two  to 
three  minutes  will  suffice  to  inspect  the  slate  work  of 
a  large  class. 

In  the  oral  exercises  in  number  given  in  the  primary 
course,  there  should  be  no  attempt  to  teach  the  log- 
orai  ical    analysis    of   the    little    problems,    and 

Analysis,  generally  nothing  is  gained  by  requiring  a 
formal  statement  of  the  reasons  for  processes  and  re- 
sults. The  oral  solutions  in  the  elementary  course 
should  also  be  concise  and  simple.  Young  pupils  are 
not  helped  by  an  attempt  to  give  a  minute  and  formal 
statement  of  every  condition  involved  in  a  problem ; 
and,  at  no  stage  of  their  advancement,  is  the  reason- 
ing faculty  trained  by  the  repetition  of  what  has  been 
aptly  called  "logical  verbiage."  It  is  now  admitted 
that  the  elaborate  logical  analyses  of  problems  which 
pupils  were  formerly  required  to  give  in  what  is  called 
"mental  arithmetic,"  was  a  serious  hindrance  to  the 
mastery  of  the  processes  and  principles  of  arithmetic, 


ARITHME  TIC.  3  O/ 

and  it  is  equally  evident  that  it  was  an  injury  to  the 
thinking  power  of  children.  Much  of  the  glibbest 
logical  analysis,  once  the  pride  of  so  many  teachers, 
was  the  result  of  the  worst  form  of  rote  teaching,  the 
analyses  being  committed  to  memory  by  the  pupils, 
and  repeated  witliout  any  wholesome  exercise  of  the 
logical  faculty. 

This  wide  abuse  of  the  so-called  "mental  arithme- 
tic "  has  led  many  teachers  to  underestimate  the  value 
of  analytic  drills  in  teaching  arithmetic ;  and,  as  a  con- 
sequence, they  have  a  small  place,  if  any,  in  their  in- 
struction. The  clear  logical  analysis  of  problems  has 
a  very  important  place  in  arithmetical  instruction,  and 
hence  the  so-called  mental  problems  should  be  nu- 
merous and  their  right  solution  should  be  taught  with 
as  much  thoroughness  as  the  written  problems,  espe- 
cial care  being  always  taken  to  adapt  the  form  of 
analysis  to  the  capacity  and  advancement  of  the  pupils. 

The  old  method  of  teaching  arithmetical  processes 
by  requiring  pupils,  first,  to  commit  to  memory  a 
formal   rule,   and    then   to   solve   the  prob- 

'  ^  Rules. 

lems  "according  to  the  rule,"  and  with 
constant  reference  to  it,  was  long  since  discarded  by 
the  most  successful  teachers.  Experience  has  shown 
that  the  rule  is  not  only  useless  as  a  means  of  teaching 
numerical  processes,  but  that  it  is  an  actual  hindrance. 
It  has  also  shown  that  a  knowledge  of  the  process  is 
essential  to  the  proper  teaching  of  the  rule.  Hence, 
*^ processes  before  rules,''  and  ^' rules  tJirougJi  processes,'' 
have  been  generally  accepted  as  wise  maxims  for  the 
teaching  of  elementary  arithmetic.  In  teaching  any 
process,  attention  should  be  called  to  the  successive 
steps,  and  the  pupils  required  to  describe  these  steps  in 


308  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

words,  but  all  tliis  should  be  done  with  direct  reference 
to  the  mastery  of  the  process  as  such. 

When  the  formal  rule  is  taught,  it  should  be  derived 
from  the  process  by  the  pupils,  under  the  guidance  of 
the  teacher.  The  true  order  of  the  successive  steps  is 
as  follows: 

1 .  A  mastery  of  the  process  without  reference  to  the 
author's  rule. 

2.  The  recognition  and  statement  of  the  successive 
steps  of  the  process  in  their  order. 

3.  The  combination  of  these  several  statements  into 
a  general  statement. 

4.  A  comparison  of  the  general  statement  thus 
formed  with  the  author's  rule. 

5.  The  memorizing  of  the  approved  rule. 

The  definitions  should,  in  like  manner,  be  taught 
inductively,  and  they  should  first  be  stated  by  the  pu- 
pils under  the  teacher's  guidance.* 

The  above  suggestions  for  teaching  ele- 

General  .   ,  . 

Method.       mentary  arithmetic  may  be  summarized,  as 
follows : 

1.  The  oral  solution  of  inductive  examples  with 
small  numbers, 

2.  The  induction  of  the  written  process  from  the 
oral  solutions,  under  the  teacher's  guidance. 

3.  The  solution  of  the  inductive  examples  on  slate 
or  paper  by  the  written  process, — not  by  the  analytic 
process,  which  should  be  oral. 

4.  The  solution  of  the  written  problems  on  slate  or 
paper. 


*For  a  practical  illustration  of  this  method  of  teaching  rules  and 
definitions,   see   Oral  Lessons  in  A^ionber,   pj).    185-187, 


ARITHMETIC.  309 

5.  The  induction  of  the  rule  from  the  written  proc- 
ess and  the  memorizing  of  the  approved  rule. 

6.  The  induction  and  memorizing  of  definitions  and 
principles, 

III.    The  Completing  Course. 

The  instruction  that  completes  the  course  in  arith- 
metic, should  differ  from  the  elementary  in  several  im- 
portant particulars,  (i)  The  problems  should  be  more 
difficult,  and  the  analyses  of  mental  problems  more 
logical  and  formal.  (2)  More  attention  should  be 
given  to  abbreviated  processes  of  practical  value.  (3) 
The  applications  to  business,  the  arts,  etc.,  should  be 
wider,  this  being  specially  true  in  mensuration  and 
percentage.  (4)  More  freedom  should  be  given  the 
pupils  in  the  mechanical  forms  of  written  work,  and 
special  encouragement  should  be  given  to  original 
solutions.  (5)  There  should  be  a  more  careful  de- 
velopment of  formulas  and  principles,  and  an  increased 
attention  generally  to  the  science  of  numbers.  (6)  The 
higher  processes,  as  proportion,  involution  and  evolu- 
tion, etc.,  should  be  included,  but  all  obsolete  rules 
should  be  excluded. 

The  increasing  use  of  the  metric  measures  in  science, 
the  arts,  and  in  commerce,  claims  a  place  for  the  sys- 
tem in  this  higher  course,  and  it  should  Metric 
be  taught  in  a  practical  manner.  Great  Measures, 
care  should  be  taken  to  make  the  pupils  practically 
familiar  with  the  metric  units,  and  this  can  best  be 
accomplished  by  the  actual  tise  of  the  metric  ineasiires. 
To  this  end,  the  school  should  at  least  be  supplied  with 
a  meter  measure,   a  liter  measure,   and   gram  and  kil- 


3  I O  ELEMENTS  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 

ogram  weights,  and  the  pupils  should  have  much  prac- 
tice in  the  use  of  these  measures.  With  the  meter 
they  should  measure  the  length  and  width  of  the 
school- room  floor,  the  teacher's  desk,  the  blackboard, 
etc.  ;  also  the  distance  between  objects  in  the  school- 
room, in  the  school-yard,  etc.  ;  with  the  liter  they 
should  measure  water,  grain,  etc.;  and  with  the  gram 
and  kilogram  they  should  weigh  different  articles.  It 
is  only  by  long  practice  that  pupils  can  be  made  as 
familiar  with  the  metric  measures  as  they  are  with  the 
common  measures. 

At  first  no  attention  should  be  given  to  the  metric 
equivalents,  and  the  only  comparisons  made  between 
the  metric  measures  and  the  common  measures  should 
be  by  the  eye.  It  can  easily  be  shown  that  the  meter 
is  a  little  more  than  a  yard ;  the  liter,  about  a  quart ; 
and  a  kilogram,  a  little  more  than  two  pounds.  It 
will  be  time  enough  to  teach  the  exact  numerical 
equivalents,  when  pupils  are  so  familiar  with  the  metric 
measures  that  they  can  think  of  them  without  any  ref- 
erence to  the  common  measures.  When  a  pupil  is 
told,  for  example,  that  a  room  is  eight  meters  long 
and  five  meters  wide,  he  should  be  able  to  compre- 
hend its  dimensions  without  reducing  to  yards  or  feet; 
and  this  result  can  only  be  attained  by  the  continued 
use  of  the  meter  in  measuring  distances. 

The  early  introduction  of  the  metric  equivalents  and 
the  reductions  of  metric  numbers  to  like  common  de- 
nominate numbers,  are  mistakes  which  have  resulted 
in  much  confusion.  This  reduction  is  the  final  step  in 
teaching  the  metric  system. 


MORAL  TRAINING. 


<3m 


MORAL  TRAINING. 


THE  WILL. 


One  of  the  most  obvious  verities  in  man's  conscious 
experience  is  the  fact  that  the  feeHngs  are  the  soHc- 
itors  and  prompters  of  action;  but  it- is  an  equally 
obvious  fact  that  the  feelings  do  not  determine  or  ne- 
cessitate action.  We  are  as  conscious  of  the  power 
to  resist  and  even  supplant  our  impulses  and  desires, 
as  we  are  of  their  solicitations.  The  soul  is  endowed 
with  the  power  to  act  in  accordance  with  soliciting  de- 
sires, or  to  resist  and  reject  their  appeals  (p.  30) ;  and 
hence  we  feel  a  sense  of  guilt  when  we  permit  a  wrong 
desire  to  pass  out  into  an  act,  and  also  when  we  con- 
sciously cherish  or  harbor  it. 

This  self-active,  self-determining  power  of  the  soul 
is  called  the  Will.  It  is  by  the  power  of  the  will  that 
the  soul  resists  its  clamorous  appetites,  and      ^,    ,„. 

'■  ^  '  The  Will. 

brings    them    into     subjection     to    reason. 
"Appetite,"  says  Hooker,   "is  the  will's  solicitor,  but 
the  will  is  the  appetite's  controller;"  and  what  is  true 
of  the  will's  relation  to  the  appetites  is  true  of  its  re- 
lation to  all  the  impulses  of  the  sensibility.*     By  an 


*  It  will  be  shown  later  (p.  316)  tliat  tliis  control  maybe  lost  by 

habitual  surrender  in  excessive  indulgence. 

W.  P.— 27.  (3'3) 


314  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

abiding  purpose,  the  soul  may  subject  all  its  lower 
feelings  to  the  higher,  and  even  to  the  control  of  a 
moral  principle.  The  forming  of  such  a  supreme  pur- 
pose has  been  to  many  a  man  the  beginning  of  a  new 
moral  life. 

So   far  as  we  are  able   to   interpret  the  actions   of 
brute  animals,   their  actions  are  necessitated  by  feel- 
ing's,  and    especially    by   their    bodily   feel- 

Moral  Action.  ^    '  I  J  J  J 

ings — sensations,  appetites,  and  mstmcts  — 
and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  the  actions  of  the  brutes 
have  no  moral  quality.  If  man  were  endowed  only 
with  the  power  to  feel  and  know,  all  of  his  actions 
would,  in  like  manner,  be  determined  by  the  strongest 
impulses  at  the  time,  and  these  would  be  necessitated 
by  conditions  over  which  he  would  have  no  control. 
This  would  relieve  man  of  all  responsibility  for  his 
acts,  and,  as  a  consequence,  human  conduct  would 
have  no  more  moral  quality  than  the  actions  of  brutes. 
We  thus  reach  the  important  truth  that  it  is  tJic  volun- 
tary or  zvill  element  in  human  action  that  gives  it  moral 
quality. 

An  act  of  will  involves  a  choice  between  alternative 
acts.  It  may  be  a  choice  between  soliciting  motives 
Acts  of  the  or  a  choice  between  a  response  to  one  of 
"^'"-  their  appeals  and  a  rejection  of  all.  When 
only  one  feeling  makes  the  appeal,  it  still  involves  a 
choice  between  a  response  to  the  appeal  and  its  rejec- 
tion. But  choice  is  not  a  determinative  act  of  will. 
It  is  only  the  initiative  act,  and  it  must  pass  into  a 
purpose  to  act  in  accordance  with  the  choice  made, 
or  directly  into  an  executing  volition.  A  choice  is  a 
present  act;  a  purpose  is  a  state  of  will,  reaching  from 


THE   WILL.  315 

a  choice  to  its  realization.  A  young  man  may,  for 
example,  consider  the  alternatives  of  taking  a  course 
in  college  or  accepting  a  clerkship  in  a  store,  and  he 
may  wisely  choose  the  college  course ;  but  this  choice 
may  never  take  him  to  college.  To  be  determinative, 
the  choice  must  pass  into  a  settled  purpose  that  can 
only  cease  with  the  realization  of  the  chosen  end. 
When  a  purpose  thus  reaches  into  the  future,  controll- 
ing all  related  choices  and  purposes,  it  becomes  a 
governing  purpose. 

But  neither  a  choice  nor  a  purpose  can  pass  out  into 
a  deed  until  it  is  executed  by  a  volition  —  the  final  de- 
terminative act  of  the  will.  A  volition  is  the  command 
which  the  will  issues  to  all  the  powers  of  the  soul  and 
the  subject  body  to  attain  the  chosen  end — to  execute 
the  settled  purpose.  Choices  and  purposes  are  thus 
manifested  in  actions.  They  pass  from  the  soul,  where 
they  may  long  have  been  hidden,  into  an  overt  act  or 
deed. 

It  is  this  power  of  the  soul  to  choose  and  to  put  its 
choices  into  purposes  and  volitions,  that  makes  man 
responsible  for  his  conduct,  and  hence  a  Freedom 
moral  being;  and  this  involves  the  freedom  ofwiii. 
of  the  soul  in  willing  or,  more  briefly,  tJie  freedom  of 
the  will.  The  moral  character  of  a  choice  or  purpose 
necessarily  depends  upon  the  power  of  the  will,  in  the 
identical  circumstances,  to  make  a  different  choice  or 
purpose.  When  this  free  power  to  act  differently  does 
not  exist,  the  act  of  the  will  is  a  nceessity,  and,  as 
such,  has  no  moral  quality.  It  is  true  that  the  pres- 
ence of  motives  necessitates  the  action  of  the  will  in 
some  direction,  but  it  does  not  necessitate  its  action 
in    a  particular  direction.     The    will   acts    in   view   of 


3  1 6  ELEMENTS  OF  FED  AGOG  V. 

motives,  but  is  free  to  determine  za/iai  its  act  shall  be. 
"Motives,"  says  Porter,  "impel  the  will,  but  they  do 
not  compel  it." 

The  assumption  that  every  act  of  will  is  necessitated 
by  the  strongest  motive,  either  frees  man  of  all  moral 
responsibility  for  his  actions  or  makes  him  responsible 
for  the  motives  that  necessitate  his  actions.  Each  of 
these  alternatives  is  in  the  face  of  universal  conscious- 
ness. The  universal  sense  of  guilt  for  known  wrong 
acts  is  proof  of  man's  responsibility  for  them,  and  no 
fact  of  conscious  experience  is  more  certain  than  the 
presence  and  appeal  of  motives  for  which  man  is  not 
responsible.  Man  can  be  morally  responsible  for  the 
appeal  of  a  motive  only  when  its  presence  to  the  soul 
is  due  to  his  own  free  act,  and  this  involves  the  free 
choice  of  its  presence.  A  desire  to  do  a  wrong  act  may 
be  cherished  or  harbored  by  a  concurring  act  of  the 
will,  as  is  true  in  a  luish,  and  this  complex  act  or  state 
may  be  sinful;  but  the  sin  is  in  the  concurrence  of  the 
will,  and  not  in  the  mere  presence  of  the  desire.  The 
truth  is  that  man  as  a  moral  being  is  responsible  for 
the  wrong  desires  which  he  has  not  endeavored  to  sup- 
plant and  control,  and  especially  for  those  which  he 
has  voluntarily  cherished  and  strengthened ;  and  this 
responsibility  involves  the  freedom  of  the  soul  in  will- 
ing. It  is  by  a  concurring  act  of  a  free  will  that  the 
soul  is  brought  into  bondage  to  wrong  and  sinful  ap- 
petites, affections,  and  desires.  It  is  thus  that  moral 
freedom,  man's  highest  birthright,  is  limited,  and  may 
be  even  lost. 

These  truths  fully  accord  with  the  principle  that 
power  and  tendency  arc  the  abiding  results  of  all  psy- 
chical action  (p.  31).     This  is  specially  true  of  the  acts 


THE  WILL.  317 

of  the  will.  Every  right  choice  in  the  face  of  a  wrong 
desire  makes  right  choosing  easier,  and  is  a  new  moral 
force   in    the    life.      "Every   choice,"   says 

^  '  ■'  Character. 

Goethe,  "is  for  eternity."  It  is  not  only 
true  that  choices  and  purposes  leave  an  abiding  trend 
and  energy  in  the  soul,  but  the  current  and  quality  of 
the  feelings  are  largely  determined  by  the  concurrence 
or  control  of  the  will.  Every  moral  act  not  only  in- 
volves an  act  of  will,  but  character,  the  resultant  in 
power  and  tendency  of  all  the  moral  acts  of  life,  is 
eminently  a  state  of  will.  Character  is  not  a  distinct- 
ive mark,  as  the  word  implies,  but  an  inner  force  and 
tendency.  It  is  both  a  product  and  a  principle — an 
effect  and  a  cause. 

But  let  us  see  a  little  more  clearly  the  relation  of 
the  intellect,  the  sensibility,  and  the  will  in  moral  ac- 
tion.    This  relation  is  partially  indicated  by 

•^  •'  Powers 

the  statement  that  choices  and  purposes  are  conjoined  in 
occasioned  by  feelings,  and  that  feelings,  the  Conduct, 
bodily  feelings  excepted,  are  awakened  by  knowledge. 
In  the  marveloi  interaction  of  the  soul's  powers,  in- 
tellectual activity  awakens  emotions  and  affections, 
which  pass  ov?r  into  desires,  and  these  make  their 
appeals  to  the  wiil.  It  is  thus  seen  that  all  three  of 
the  great  powers  of  the  soul  are  conjoined  in  conduct, 
which  Matthew  Arnold  says  is  "three  fourths  of  life," 
but  the  final  determining  power  in  this  trinity  of  pow- 
ers is  the  will. 

It  may  be  added  that  the  will  is  not  only  the  soul's 
autocrat  in  moral  action,  but  it  is  also  the  attendant 
and  director  of  nearly  all  the  conscious  activities  of 
the  mind.  "The  normal  man,"  says  Schopenhauer, 
"  is  two  thirds  will." 


3  1 8  ELEMENTS  OF  FED  AGOG  Y. 

The  Training  of  the  Will. 

It  follows  from  the  above  truths  that  effective  moral 
training  involves  the  right  trainmg  of  the  ivtll,  and  this 
touches  the  very  root  of  the  question  of  method,  now 
to  be  considered. 

V  The  fact  that  the  act-impelling  desires  are  awakent 
by  knowledge  shows  that  insti'itctmi  in  duty  has  a  vital 
Moral        relation    to   the   training   of  the   will,    and 

Instruction,  hencc  to  moral  training.  -Nor  is  it  suffi- 
cient that  such  instruction  arouse  the  feelings,  and,  to 
this  end,  be  concrete  and  illustrative.  It  should  in- 
creasingly lift  duty  and  obligation  to  the  domain  of 
the  higher  motives  of  reason  and  conscience  — to  the 
plane  o{  moral  principle.  It  should  be  both  incidental 
and  regular,  and  its  ends  should  be  intelligently  appre- 
hended and  systematically  pursued  and  attained 

The  determining  relation  of  the  will  to  moral  action 

shows  that  the  culture  of  the  feelings  is  a  means  and 

Culture  of     ^ot  au  end  of  moral  education.     Vital  moral 

Feelings,  training  can  not  end  with  emotions  or  de- 
sires ;  it  must  issue  in  right  action.  It  is  true  that 
the  feelings  furnish  impelling  motives,  and  are  other- 
wise important  conditions  of  moral  action,  but  they 
result  in  moral  character  only  when  they  have  their 
issue  in  an  act  of  the  will.  The  soul  may,  for  ex- 
ample, be  swept  with  emotions  of  pity,  compassion, 
and  sympathy,  but  if  these  feelings  do  not  pass  into 
a  purpose  or  out  into  a  deed,  they  will  develop  char- 
acter very  little.  On  the  contrary,  the  indulgence  of 
excessive  feeling  without  action  enfeebles  the  will  and 
makes  the  character  limp  and  flaccid.      It   is  for.  this 


TRAINING  OF  THE   WILL.  3I9 

reason  that  the  theater  has  never  been  a  very  effective 
school  of  morals.  It  is  not  the  men  and  women  who 
shed  most  tears  over  spectacular  wrongs,  that  are  the 
most  ready  and  heroic  in  effort  to  right  the  wrongs  in 
actual  life. 

»  Effective  moral  training  involves  tJie  discipline  of  the 
will  to  act  habitually  in  view  of  those  motives  which  re- 
lease the  soul  from  bondage  to  loiv  and  sclfisJi  Discipline  un- 
desires,  and  make  the  cojiscience  regal  in  the  ^^^  Motives. 
life.  The  vital  importance  of  this  training  in  school 
is  emphasized  by  the  fact  that,  while  school  life  affords 
excellent  opportunities  for  it,  both  the  instruction  and 
the  discipline  of  the  school  may  actually  enfeeble  and 
dissipate  will  power.  Diligence  in  study  and  outward 
obedience  may  both  be  secured  by  means  that  prac- 
tically divorce  conduct  and  right  motive. 

It  is  easy  to  hedge  in  a  child's  conduct  by  author- 
itative restraints,  and  to  urge  him  forward  by  artificial 
incitements;  but  when  the  restraining  hedge  Training  for 
is  broken  down,  and  the  temporary  incite-  Liberty. 
ment  is  wanting,  then  will  appear  the  vital  need  of 
the  power  and  habit  of  self-impulsion  and  self-guid- 
ance. The  most  dangerous  transition  in  a  youth's  life 
is  that  which  carries  him  from  the  authoritative  con- 
trol of  the  family  and  the  school  to  the  responsibility 
of  untried  liberty.  The  shores  of  this  perilous  strait 
of  human  life  are  strewn  with  wrecked  manhood. 

The  home-life  and  the  school-life  of  the  child  should 
prepare  him  for  this  transition  to  freedom  by  effective 
training  in  self-control  and  self- guidance,  and,  to  this 
end,  the  will  must  be  disciplined  by  an  increasing  use 
of  motives  that  quicken  the  sense  of  right  and  make 


3  2  O  ELEMENTS  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 

the  conscience  regal  in  conduct.  It  is  not  enough  that 
the  teacher  secures  diHgence  in  study,  good  order, 
and  proper  behavior  in  school.  The  vital  question  is. 
To  zvhat  motives  does  he  appeal  hi  gaining  these  ettds? 
If  these  be  low  and  selfish,  the  results,  howsoever  fair 
in  appearance,  will  be  like  the  apples  of  Sodom  in  the 
life.  No  temporary  interest  in  study,  no  external 
propriety  of  conduct,  can  compensate  for  the  habitual 
subjection  of  the  will  to  the  dominancy  of  the  lower 
motives.  The  pregnant  truth  is  that  no  training  of 
the  will  can  stand  the  supreme  test  of  conduct  that 
does  not  put  its  acts  in  harmony  with  the  imperative 
OUGHT — the  last  word  in  the  vocabulary  of  reason  and 
duty. 

School  Incentives. 

The  above  facts  throw  a  flood  of  light  on  the  ques- 
tion of  school  incentives — the  central  element  in  will 
training. 

The  most  obvious  classification  of  school  incentives 
is  their  division  into  artificial  and  natural  incentives. 

Artificial    incentives  are  those   rewards  or   incitants 

^vhich  are  thrust  between   the   pupil  and  the  natural 

consequences    of  study    and    conduct,    and 

Incentives,     thus  bccomc  the  immediate  ends  of  effort. 

They  include  such  incentives  as: 
T.   Prizes, — as  books,  medals,  merit-tickets,  etc. 
7.    Privileges, — as  holidays,  early  dismissals  from  school, 

choice  of  seats,  positions  as  monitors,  etc. 
3.    Immimities, — as  exemptions  from  duty,  tasks,  etc. 

These  are  the  lowest  incentives  ordinarily  used  in 
school,    the   propulsive   or   fear   motives   possibly   ex- 


SCHOOL  INCENTIVES.  321 

cepted ;  but  experience  shows  that  they  do  not  lack 
power.  They  may  be  so  incorporated  into  the  disci- 
pHne  of  a  school,  and  so  intensified  as  to  become  its 
very  life — the  all-absorbing  end  of  desire  and  effort. 
Many  a  school  has  been  wrought  up  to  a  high  pitch 
of  interest  and  effort  by  the  enthusiastic  use  of  the 
reward  of  a  monthly  holiday  for  the  attainment  of  a 
given  standing  in  study,  deportment,  punctuality,  and 
regularity.  It  seems  unnecessary  to  add  that  these 
artificial  incentives  do  not  stand  the  decisive  test  of 
character.  They  may  stimulate  effort,  but  they  bring" 
the  will  into  captivity  to  the  present  and  selfish,  and 
feed  the  moral  nature  on  husks. 

Natural  incentives  are  those  motives  that  attend  ef- 
fort and  attainment  as  a  natural  result  or  consequence. 
They  range  from  the  more  or  less  selfish  to  Natural 
those  high  motives  that  beckon  the  soul  to  incentives, 
duty,  and  stir  it  "with  the  joy  of  pure  obligation" — 
the  highest  joy  of  life.  They  spring  up  in  the  path- 
way of  duty,  and  are  the  appointed  attendants  on 
human  effort  through  life. 

From  the  long  catalogue  of  natural  incentives,  let  us 
select  the  seven  most  used  in  school  —  the  "Royal 
Seven,"  as  they  may  be  called.     These  are: 

1 .  A  desire  for  standing  or  rank,  including  the  desire  to 

excel. 

2.  A  desire  for  approbation — of  equals  and  superiors. 

3 .  A  desire  for  activity  and  power. 

4.  A  desire  for  knoxvledge. 

5 .  TJie  hope  of  future  good. 

6.  A  sense  of  honor. 

7.  A  se?ise  of  duty. 


322  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDACaCY. 

A  glance  at  these  seven  incentives  will  suffice  to  show 

that,   in  their  influence  on  the  will,   and  hence  moral 

character,  they  rise  from  the  first  to  the  sev- 

and  Lower     cntli ;  and  a  little  reflection  will  show  that 

Phases.       each  of  them  has  higher  and  lower  phases. 

The  desire  for  standing  may  be  readily  lowered,  even 
to  an  artificial  incentive,  as  is  always  the  case  when 
the  sign  of  rank  is  made  the  absorbing  end  of  effort. 
In  too  many  schools  the  desire  for  a  high  class-mark 
or  a  high  "percent"  in  examination  is  the  ruling 
^passion  of  the  more  ambitious  pupils.  They  cram  for 
per  cents,  and  they  sometimes  cheat  for  per  cents;  and 
this  unfortunately  is  not  confined  to  elementary  schools. 

The  desire  for  approbation  becomes,  in  its  lower 
phase,  a  craving  for  unmerited  praise  or  flattery ;  while 
its  higher  phase  includes  a  desire  for  the  approval  of 
the  wise  and  good,  and,  still  higher,  for  self-approval, 
which  Porter  calls  "the  most  bles-sed  of  joys. " 

The  desire  for  activity  and  power  may  have  its  roots 
in  the  coveting  of  self-glory ;  or  it  may  spring  from  a 
noble  desire  to  honor  one's  powers,  and  realize  that 
sense  of  efficiency,  which  is  one  of  the  deepest  springs 
of  human  action. 

The  desire  for  knowledge  may  be  a  mere  craving  of 
the  personal  advantages  which  the  possession  of  knowl- 
edge gives ;  or  it  may  be  a  pure  and  inspiring  love  of 
truth  for  her  own  sake. 

The  hope  of  future  good  may  be  purely  selfish,  or 
it  may  be  inspired  by  a  noble  self-interest,  and  a  be- 
nevolent desire  to  help  and  bless  others. 

A  sense  of  honor  may  be  false  or  true — the  former 
being  a  servile  bondage  to  the  opinions  or  demands 
of  school-mates,   a  clique,   or  a  party;  and  the  latter 


SCHOOL  INCENTIVES.  323 

that  fine  sense  of  justice  that  is  born  of  self-respect 
and  a  true  regard  for  the  good- will  of  others. 

It  should  be  specially  noted  that  each  of  these  nat- 
ural incentives  has  for  its  highest  correlate      Religious 
a  religious   motive.     These    religious   corre-     correlates, 
lates,  beginning  with  the  second  incentive,  may  be  as 
follows — each   religious    correlate  being  placed  above 
the  incentive   to  which  it  relates : 

A  desire  for  God' s  approval. 

(2)  A  desire  for  approbation. 

A  desire  for  the  pozvcr  of  an  endless  life. 

(3)  A  desire  for  activity  and  power. 

A  desire  to  know  God  and  his  will. 

(4)  A  desire  for  knowledge. 

The  hope  of  a  blessed  immortality. 

(5)  The  hope  of  future  good. 

The  desire  to  honor  one's  Creator. 

(6)  A  sense  of  honor. 

A  sense  of  obligation  to  do  God' s  will. 

(7)  A  sense  of  duty. 

It  has  been  assumed  in  the  foregoing  discussion 
that  the  right  training  of  the  will  involves  the  use  of 
the  highest  motives  that  can  be  made  use  of  Higher 
effective  ;  and  hence  of  two  motives  equally  Motives. 
effective,  the  higher  should  always  be  placed  before 
the  pupil.  In  accordance  with  this  principle,  the 
artificial  incentives  should  be  used,  if  used  at  all,  as 
temporary  expedients,  to  lift  a  pupil  or  school  to  the 
plane  of  the  natural  incentives.  Such  incentives  may 
properly  be  used  in  controlling  a  school  of  savages, 
but  as  fast  as  the  savage  nature  is  overcome,  higher 
incentives  should  be  substituted. 


324  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

The  same  principle  is  to  be  observed  in  the  use  of 
the  natural  incentives.  They  are  not  equally  abiding 
in  results,  or  equally  valuable  in  quickening  the  pupil's 
sense  of  right  and  duty;  and  hence  there  should  be 
an  increasing  use  of  the  higher  and  more  fruitful. 
The  use  of  lower  incentives  when  those  that  are 
higher  can  be  made  equally  effective,  is  to  sacrifice 
the  best  results  of  will  training. 

It  follows  that  the  most  efficient  training  of  the  will 

involves  an  appeal  to  the  religious  motives,   and  this 

Religious      inference  is  strongly  supported  by  the  fact 

Motives.  \}^2i\.  t/ic  reUgious  motives  quicken  and  energize 
all  the  lower  motives  to  ivliich  they  are  related.  It  is  for 
this  reason,  among  others,  that  they  have  been  the 
mightiest  of  historic  forces,  and  the  mightiest  forces 
in  individual  life.  The  religious  motives  are  fibered  in 
modern  civilization,  and  constitute  the  one  authorita- 
tive element  of  the  moral  law.  There  has  never  been 
a  moral  code  that  secured  the  free  obedience  of  men, 
that  did  not  derive  its  highest  and  most  restraining 
authority  from  religion ;  and  this  is  true  in  pagan  as 
well  as  in  Christian  lands.* 

Indeed,  I  know  no  thoughtful  writer  who  denies 
that  religious  sanctions  have  a  greater  and  more  es- 
sential influence  on  the  will  than  any  other  motives. 


"•■■The  much  praised  moral  code  of  Confucius  not  only  contains 
references  to  "Heaven''  as  the  Supreme  Being,  but  it  clearly  rec- 
ognizes a  future  life.  ["The  Chinese  Classics,"  Part  I,  pp.  ix-xi] ; 
and,  besides,  it  is  a  historic  fact  that  the  influence  of  the  Confucian 
precepts  on  Chinese  life  has  increased  in  the  ratio  in  which  the 
great  teacher  has  been  venerated  as  divine.  It  is  an  equally  sug- 
gestive fact  of  history  that  the  decay  of  faith  in  Greek  mythology 
■was  attended  by  a  decline  in  Greek  morality,  such  as  it  was. 


SCHOOL  INCENTIVES.  325 

"My  belief  is,"  says  Mr.  Huxley,  "that  no  human 
being,  and  no  society  composed  of  human  beings, 
ever  did  or  ever  will  come  to  much  unless  their  con- 
duct be  governed  and  guided  by  the  love  of  some 
ethical  ideal,"*  and  he  further  expressly  declares  that 
the  religious  feeling  is  ' '  the  essential  basis  of  con- 
duct."  Even  more  emphatic  testimony,  to  the  same 
effect,  from  other  eminent  scientists  and  philosophers 
might  be  cited. 

This  principle  is  forcibly  illustrated  in  the  training 
of  the  will  tJu'oiigJi  obedience  to  aiitJiority, — an  essential 
element  in  its  complete  discipline.  The  obedience  to 
child  first  meets  authority  in  the  will  of  Authority, 
the  parent,  and  obedience  to  parental  authority  is  the 
beginning  of  the  process  of  subjecting  feeling  and 
impulse  to  a  higher  law.  The  parent's  authority  rep- 
resents both  love  and  power,  and  the  child's  obedience 
has  its  abiding  spring  in  reverence,  which  Coleridge 
calls  "the  synthesis  of  love  and  fear."  This  gives 
the  parent's  will  ascendency  over  both  the  heart  and 
will  of  the  child,  and  imparts  to  it  a  touch  of  the 
Absolute.  Some  one  has  said  that  the  first  deities 
which  a  child  worships  and  obeys  are  his  parents. 

This  discipline  of  the  will  in  obedience  is  next 
taken  up  by  the  school  whose  authority  is  both  per- 
sonal and  institutional.  Here  the  pupil  is  not  only 
trained  in  obedience  to  authority  in  this  new  form, 
but  is  prepared  for  obedience  to  civil  or  governmental 
authority,  which  is  institutional,  and  not  personal. 
To  this  end,  both  the  authority  of  the  school  and  of 
the    state    should    be    enthroned    in    the    pupil's   rever- 


From  address  to  London  School  Board. 


326  EL  EM  EN  TS  OF  FED  A  GOGY. 

ence;  and  this  can  only  be  secured  by  training  the 
will  under  a  deep  sense  of  that  Supreme  Authority 
that  is  back  of  family,  school,  and  state.  We  must 
not  be  too  slow  to  learn  that  an  essential  condition  of 
willing  obedience  to  law  is  a  reverence  for  its  authority, 
and  that  this  involves  a  reverence  for  its  source. 
Human  law  has  surest  and  easiest  ascendency  over  the 
heart  and  the  will  when  it  speaks,  not  simply  by  the 
authority  of  the  people,  but  also  in  the  name  of  the 
IGng  of  kings. 

/T  It  is  believed  that  history  will  fully  sustain  the 
statement  that  every  wide  attempt  to  ground  moral 
Testimony  obligation  solely  on  human  authority  has 
of  History,  resulted  in  the  weakening  of  the  con- 
science, the  enfeebling  of  the  will,  and  the  lowering 
of  the  moral  life  of  the  people.  It  may  be  true  that 
a  basis  of  right  and  wrong  can  be  found  in  man's 
moral  nature,  but  the  pregnant  fact  of  human 
experience  is  that  their  authority  over  the  will  is  weak 
when  unsupported  by  religious  sanctions  and  influence. 
In  the  murky  atmosphere  of  carnal  and  selfish  appe- 
tites and  desires,  moral  distinctions  become  obscure 
and  confused.  Virtue  comes  to  be  regarded  as  mere 
self-restraint ;  temperance  as  moral  cowardice ;  and 
theft  as  the  secret  redistribution  of  wrong  accumula- 
tions.    This  is  sad  history. 

The  deep  truth  of  both  reason  and  human  expe- 
rience is  that  the  religious  motives  transcend  all  others 
in  their  influence  on  the  will.  It  is  the  high  sense  of 
obligation  which  they  alone  furnish  that  can  free  the 
will  from  self-bondage  to  the  lower  impulses  and  de- 
sires and  make  its  high  purposes  imperative  and 
abiding  in  conduct. 


SCHOOL  INCENTIVES.  32/ 

In  the  clear  light  of   these  truths,    I  can  not  avoid 
the  conclusion  that  effective  moral  training  in  school 
demands  the  vitalizing  influence  of  religious      Religious 
truth  and   sanctions;    and    I    can   not  sup-    ^^"^iraf '" 
press   the    fear  that  any  system   of   moral      Training. 
training  that  ignores  the  Supreme  Source  of  right  and 
duty,  that  shuts  out  from  obligation  all  ideas  of  God 
and  immortality,   will,  not    bear  the  test  of   character 
and  life. 

Take  as  an  illustration  the  effect  on  the  will  that 
would  result  were  all  consciousness  of  God's  omnis- 
cience excluded  from  school  training  as  a  motive. 
What  a  help  and  inspiration  to  a  wayward  pupil  is 
the  consciousness  that  the  eye  of  a  loving  and  just 
teacher  rests  upon  him !  What  courage  and  heroism 
in  battle  have  been  inspired  by  the  eye  of  the  great 
soldier  in  command !  What  an  incentive  to  right 
conduct,  and  what  a  restraint  to  wrong  doing,  is  the 
eye  of  the  wise  and  good !  Evil  doing  hides  from 
sight.  Men  love  darkness  rather  than  light  not  only 
because  but  when  their  deeds  are  evil.  These  are 
but  weak  illustrations  of  the  inspiring  and  restraining 
influence  on  human  conduct  that  flows  from  a  clear 
consciousness  that  there  is  in  this  universe  an  All 
Seeing  Eye  that  is  never  closed ;  that  He  who  has  said 
with  infinite  authority,  "Thou  shalt  not,"  sees! 
There  is  no  such  vanquisher  of  temptation  as  the  con- 
sciousness, "Thou,  God,  seest  me!"  The  exclusion 
of  all  thought  of  that  Omniscient  Eye  from  school 
training  would  be  like  shutting  out  the  light  of  the 
sun  and  substituting:  the  glimmer  of  candles ! 


328  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 


Religion  in  the  Public  School. 

The  consideration  of  one  more  question  is  necessary 
to  complete  this  study  of  moral  education;  viz.,  To 
what  extent  can  religions  motives  and  influence  be  used  in 
the  public  school  ? 

In  answering  this  question,  it  must  be  kept  in  mind 
that  the  highest  efficiency  of  the  public  school  is 
tested  by  its  results  in  moral  character,  and  hence  its 
central  aim  is  effective  moral  training.  The  truth  of 
these  statements  will  be  questioned  by  no  one  who 
has  carefully  considered  the  functions  and  value  of 
public  education.  The  assumption  that  intellectual 
training  is  the  sole  duty  of  the  public  school  is  made 
as  an  objection  to  the  system,  and  never  as  a  ground 
of  its  defence.  It  is  always  urged  as  proof  that 
public  education  has  no  sufficient  foundation  on  which 
to  stand,  and  no  imperative  claim  to  public  support. 

If  it  be  conceded  that  effective  moral  training  is 
the  central  duty  of  the  public  school,  it  must  also  be 
conceded  that  zvJiatever  is  an  essential  means  to  such 
training  should  have  due  place  in  its  instruction  and 
discipline. 

There  are  two  extreme  and  opposite  views  on  the 

relation   of   religion   to   moral   training   in    the   public 

Extreme       school.      The  ouc  asscrts  that  public  school 

Views.  training  must  be  completely  divorced  from 
religion, — it  being  assumed  that  the  denial  of  the 
right  of  the  public  school  to  give  sectarian  religious 
instruction  shuts  out  all  religious  truth  and  sanctions. 
The  other  extreme  view  claims   that   formal   religious 


RELIGION'  IN  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOL.  329 

instruction  must  be  made  the  basis  of  all  moral  train- 
ing,— it  being  assumed  that  the  absence  of  the  cate- 
chism and  other  technical  instruction  in  religion  from 
the  school  necessitates  the  absence  of  all  vital  re- 
ligious influence. 

The  philosophy  of  will  training,  so  fully  presented 
in  previous  pages,  clearly  indicates  that  there  is  a 
practical  mean  between  these  two  extreme  The  Practical 
views.  The  truths  there  considered  show  Mean. 
that  what  is  needed  to  give  efficiency  to  moral  train- 
ing in  school  is  not  formal  religious  instruction  so 
much  as  the  quickening  of  the  conscience  and  the  in- 
fluencing of  the  will  by  the  wise  use  of  religious 
motives  and  sanctions.  When  a  witness  appears  in 
court  to  give  testimony,  he  is  not  formally  instructed 
in  religious  doctrines,  but  his  conscience  is  quickened 
and  its  authority  reinforced  by  an  oath  that  appeals  to 
the  Omniscient  Searcher  of  hearts  and  the  Supreme 
Source  of  truth  and  obligation.  A  similar  but  less 
formal  use  of  the  common  sanctions  of  religioji  is 
needed  to  quicken  the  moral  sense  and  reinforce  the 
lower  motives  in  the  moral  training  of  the  young; 
and  whatever  may  be  true  of  the  necessity  of  the 
religious  oath  in  the  administration  of  justice,  there 
can  be  no  question  respecting  the  importance  of  re- 
ligious sanctions  and  motives  in  school  training.  In 
view  of  the  imperative  need  of  the  most  vital  moral 
training  possible  in  our  schools,  this  necessary  use  of 
religious  influence  should   receive   universal  approval. 

The  writer  is  aware  that  theoretical  objections 
can  be  urged  against  the  practicability  of  the  golden 
mean  above  suggested,  but  happily  there  is  no  such 
difflculty  or  confusion  in  the  practice  of  thousands  of 

W.  p.— 28. 


330  ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

teachers.  The  great  majority  of  American  schools 
are  rehgious  without  being  sectarian,  and  it  is  high 
time  that  this  fact  was  more  universally  recognized. 

It  is  doubtless  true  that  the  most  impressive  forms 

of   presenting    religious    sanctions    to    the    mind    and 

Use  of  the      heart   of  the   young   are    prayer,    silent   or 

Bible.  spoken,  and  the  reverent  reading  of  the 
Bible,  especially  those  portions  that  present  human 
duty  in  its  relations  to  the  Divine  Will — forms  still 
permitted  and  widely  used  in  four  fifths  of  American 
schools.  I  share  Mr.  Huxley's  serious  perplexity  in 
seeing  how  the  needed  measure  of  religious  influence 
in  our  schools  can  be  secured  without  the  presence  of 
the  Bible;  and  yet,  to  this  end,  its  formal  and  stated 
reading  may  not  be  essential,  since  there  are  other 
ways  in  which  its  vitalizing  truths  may  be  brought 
home  to  the  conscience  and  the  life. 

At  least  three  avenues  are  open  for  the  introduction 
of  religious  ideas  and  sanctions  into  all  our  schools. 
These  are  sacred  song,  the  literature  of  Christendom, 
and,  best  of  all,  faithful  and  fearless  Christian  teachers, 
the  living  epistles  of  the  Truth.  Against  these  there 
is  no  law. 


INDEX. 


N.  B.      The  figures  refer  to  pages. 


Abstraction,  63;  abstract  ideas, 
63,  299;  abstract  concepts,  64. 

Aflfections,  The,  28. 

Analogy,  Reasoning  from,  73. 

Analysis,  62;  analysis  and  synthe- 
sis, 138;  Hamilton's  views,  138, 
172;  their  union  in  teaching, 
170,  171,  172,  256,  265. 

Analysis — of  psychical  processes, 
10 ;  of  the  feelings,  23;  of  intel- 
lectual processes,  35;  of  acts  of 
will,  314. 

Analysis,  Phonic,  226;  syllabic 
analysis,  228  ;  spelling,  229. 

Apperception,  47. 

Appetites,  25;  acquired,  25,  31; 
under  control  of  the  will,  313. 

Arithmetic,  Courses  of  Instruction 
in,  294-310;  primary  course  — 
first  series,  294,  second  series, 
299,  third  series,  302;  element- 
ary book  course,  304;  advanced 
or  complete  course,  309. 

Arithmetic,  Metliods  of  Teaching, 
294;  general  method  of  teach- 
ing elementary  arithmetic,  308; 
counting  by  ones,  296;  abstract 
numbers,  297,  299;  figures,  297; 
slate  and  board  exercises,  297 ; 
abuse  of  objects,  298,  304;  part 
and  factor  processes  taught  sep- 
arately, 300;  addition  and  sub- 
traction inverse  processes,  300 ; 
multiplication  and  division  in- 
verse processes,  303 ;  early  use 
of  text-book,  303  ;  oral  and  writ- 
ten processes  united,  305  ;  value 
of  oral  analyses,  306;  "mental 
arithmetic,"  306;  use  of  rules, 
307;  how  taught,  308;  defini- 
tions and  how  taught,  308; 
teaching  common  measures, 
305 ;  the  metric  measures,  309. 


Art,  Education  as  an,  9;  arts  of 
memory,  54 ;  teaching  an  art,  100, 
213;  fundamental  arts,  99;  art 
of  questioning,  180;  the  teach- 
ing of  art,  124;  ideals  in  teach- 
ing art,  125;  knowledge,  125; 
principles,  126;  practice,  128. 

Assignment  of  lessons,  214. 

Attention,  37;  an  act  of  will,  38; 
effect  on  sense  activity,  42;  in- 
terest, 43;  nervous  energy,  44; 
limits  of  attention,  44. 

Bible,  Use  of,  330. 

Blackboard,  Use  of  in  Teaching 
Reading,  221 ;  in  teaching  map 
drawing,  274,  278,  288;  in  teach- 
ing number,  297,  300,  302. 

Body  and  Soul,  Connection  of,  22, 
31-3^;  bodily  conditions  of  psy- 
chical action,  92. 

Books,  Study  of,  118,  149;  value 
of,  151  ;  book  study  and  oral 
teaching,  152-163. 

Brain,  23;  organ  of  the  mind,  24; 
size  of  brain,  32. 

Branch  of  Study,  137. 

Business  Papers,  251. 

Calling  on  Pupils,  Methods  of, 
182-192;  consecutive,  183;  pro- 
miscuous, 185;  simultaneous  or 
concert,  189;  abuse  of  concert 
method,  191. 

Catechetic  Method,  merits  and 
defects,  178. 

Change  of  Seasons,  286. 

Charts,    Reading,    221,    222,    229. 

Children's  Minds,  Contents  of, 
114,  220;  study  of  children,  10, 

i3>  87,  88. 
Coincidence  not  Causation,  74. 
Comenian  Maxim,  121,  127. 
Comparison,  62,  67. 

(331) 


33^ 


ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 


Conception — sense-conception  or 
sense-synthesis,  46;  conception 
proper,  62;  elements,  62;  gen- 
eralization, 63. 

Concepts — sense,  46;  general,  62; 
compound,  64;  concrete  and  ab- 
stract, 64;  relation  to  words,  65; 
not  transferable,  65 ;  primary 
concepts  taught  objectively, 
113;  concepts  before  words, 
223 ;  general  concepts  not  im- 
aged, 64,  65. 

Concert  Method,  The,  189;  its 
abuse,  191. 

Consciousness,  36;  validity  of  its 
knowledge,  36  ;  the  ego  known, 
36;  act  immediate,  37;  degrees 
of  consciousness,  37;  uncon- 
scious acts,  36. 

Consecutive  Method,  merits  and 
defects,  183-185, 

Daily  Preparation,  Teacher's,  211, 

Deduction  75;  relation  of  induc- 
tion and  deduction,  78  ;  deduct- 
ive methods  of  teaching,  139. 

Descriptive  Text  in  Geography, 
291;  special  topics,  292;  defini- 
tions, how  taught,  277,  283 ; 
mathematical  terms,  283,  286. 

Desires,  29;  aversions,  29;  appeal 
of  desires  to  the  will,  313-317; 
moral  quality  of  desires,  316; 
desires  as  incentives,  321-323. 

Diacritical  marks,  227,  233. 

Diagrams,  90,  112,  154. 

Discrimination,  41,  67. 

Drill,  Use  of  the,  144;  abuse,  145; 
abuse  in  graded  schools,  146; 
drill  exercises,  164;  united  with 
instruction   in  lesson,    164-168. 

Education,  Definitions  of,  133, 
135,  136;  as  an  art,  9;  guiding 
knowledge,  9;  ends  and  means, 
97  ;  kinds — intellectual,  moral, 
and  physical,  98;  self,  136. 

Educator,  135. 

Elementary  sounds,  227. 

Emotions,  26;  psychical  origin, 
26;  intensity,  27;  classes,  28; 
relation  to  other  feelings,  29. 


English  Grammar,  Methods  of 
Teaching,  255-267;  practical 
value,  128,  129,  158;  place  in 
school  course,  255  ;  introductory 
lessons,  256;  synthesis  of  simple 
sentence,  259 ;  four  forms  of 
predication,  259;  essential  ele- 
ments of  sentence,  262;  modi- 
fiers of  subject,  263;  modifiers 
of  verb,  264;  analysis  and  pars- 
ing, 265 ;  study  of  text-booki 
267;  false  syntax,  267. 

English  Literature,  238,  240,  253, 

Enthymeme,  The,  76. 

Errors  in  Oral  Teaching,  163. 

Examinations,  Written,  193-209. 

False  Syntax,  Correction  of,  267. 

Feelings,  Classes  of,  23  ;  corporeal 
— sensations,  ajipetites,  and  in- 
stincts, 24-26;  psychical — emo- 
tions, affections,  and  desires, 
26-30;  feelings  related,  29;  vol- 
untary, 30;  culture  of  the  feel- 
ings, 31,  318;  feelings  affect  the 
body,  31;  their  bodily  manifes- 
tation, 32;  outline  analysis,  34. 

Forgetfulness,  53. 

Garfield  on  class  interest,  211. 

Generalization,  62-64;  conceptive, 
62;  ideas  generalized,  64. 

Geography,  Methods  of  Teaching, 
268-293;  oral  instruction,  156, 
157  ;  both  synthetic  and  analytic 
methods  used,  171  ;  progress 
made,  268;  nature  of  text-book, 
268;  objects  of  its  study,  269; 
three  course  of  instruction — oral 
course  in  home  geography,  270- 
283;  intermediate  book  course, 
283-292  ;  physical  geography, 
293  ;  lessons  on  globe,  281,  286; 
syllabus  of  oral  course,  271-283. 

Grammar — see  English  grammar. 

Habits  of  Speech,  244,  267. 

Hallucinations,  60. 

Hand  and  Mind,  127. 

History,    Methods    of    Teaching, 

159-162. 
Huxley  on  the  religious  basis  of 

conduct,  325. 


INDEX. 


S33 


Idea,  Definition  of,  46;  general 
ideas,  63 ;  abstract  ideas,  63 ; 
ideas  simple,  64;  can  not  be 
transferred,  65. 

Ideals  in  Teaching  Art,  124. 

Images,  47,  55,  58. 

Imagination,  55;  compared  with 
memory,  55;  phases—  modifying, 
constructive,  and  creative,  56 ; 
materials  used,  57 ;  psychical 
conditions,  57- 

Incentives,  29;  school  incentives, 
320;  kinds — natural  and  artifi- 
cial, 320-324;  "Royal  Seven," 
321 ;  use  of  the  higher,  323;  re- 
ligious motives,  324;  their  use 
in  moral  training,  324. 

Inclination,  29. 

Induction,  70 — see  Reasoning,  in- 
ductive. 

Inductive  Methods,  139. 

Inference,  Probable,  74. 

Instinct,  26. 

Instruction,  Definition  of,  134; 
course  of,  107;  Dr.  Hill's  simile, 
1 10;  diagram,  1 12;  primary  in- 
struction, 105,  108,  154;  instruc- 
tion exercises,  164;  united  with 
drill  in  lesson,  164. 

Instructor,  135. 

Intellect,  21,  35  ;  also  called  mind, 
22;  analysis  of  processes,  35-83; 
outline  analysis,  83. 

Interest,  43;  how  awakened,  211. 

Intuition,  Definition  of,  44;  not  in- 
duction, 45  ;  logical  or  rational 
intuitions,  45;   note,  45. 

Judgment,  67  ;  simple  and  formal, 
67;  mediate  judgment,  69;  judg- 
ing not  reasoning,  71;  judg- 
ments, particular  and  general, 
68;  facts,  69. 

Knowledge,  35;  objects  of  knowl- 
edge real,  35;  original  and  ac- 
quired, 98,  118;  elements  ac- 
quired objectively,  114;  not 
transferable,  but  result  of 
learner's  activity.  III;  commu- 
nication of  knowledge,  117 ; 
self-knowledge,  10;   elementary 


and    scientific,    1 10,    I20;    com- 
mon and  scientific,  80,  109. 

Language,  Function  of,  129;  an 
end  of  teaching,  166;  memoriz- 
ing language,  167;  importance 
of  skill  in  its  use,  243;  synthesis 
before  analysis  in  teaching  lan- 
guage, 244,  256  ;  talking  before 
writing,  244;  habits  of  speech 
caught,  244;  methods  of  teach- 
ing language,  243-267. 

Language  Lessons,  129,  243; 
course  of,  245-255  ;  primary 
series,  244;  secondary  series, 
249;  original  series,  252;  not 
too  systematic,  254. 

Learning,  135;  pupil's  act,  ill. 

Lesson,  Nature  of  the,  16,  164, 
165;  methods  of  giving  lessons, 
168-172;  objective  instruction, 
168;  indirect,  169;  direct,  169; 
analysis  and  synthesis,  170; 
union  of  processes,  172;  recita- 
tion methods  in  lessons,  190; 
abuse  of  concert  method,    191. 

Letter  writing,  252;  De  Quincey's 
remark  on  style  in  letters,  252. 

Map  Drawing,  274-276,  288-290. 

Map  Study,  269,  287,  288-291. 

Marking  System,  The,  206. 

Mathematical  Definitions,  286. 

Maxims,  Elementary,  105;  their 
limitations,  15,  105;  other  max- 
ims, 115,  143,  244,  307. 

Memory,  51  ;  psychical  elements, 
51;  perfect  and  imperfect,  52; 
the  ego  in  memory,  53  ;  forget- 
fulness,  53  ;  what  memory  re- 
calls, 53;  arts  of,  and  law,  54; 
cultivation,  54;   kinds,  55. 

Mental  Arithmetic,  306;  union  of 
mental  and  written,  305. 

Mental  Powers,  Activity  of,  84; 
order  of  activity,  84,  85;  order 
of  growth,  86 ;  how  early  active, 
87;  child  study,  13,  88;  bodily 
conditions,  92;   diagram,  90. 

Metiiod,  Defuiition  of,  137;  gen- 
eral metliods,  15,  138;  analytic 
and    synthetic,    138;    inductive 


334 


ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 


and  deductive,  139;  special,  17, 
219-310  ;  method  of  moral 
training,  318-330. 

Metric  Measures,  The,  309. 

Mind  and  body,  93;  mind  and 
hand,  127. 

Mind,  22;  mind  self-active,  iii. 

Model  Lessons,  Use  of,  168. 

Moral  Character,  317;  cultivated 
by  moral  activity,  317. 

Moral  Training,  17;  relation  of 
will  to  moral  action,  323;  train- 
ing of  the  will,  318;  moral  in- 
struction, 318;  culture  of  the 
feelings,  318;  discipline  under 
motives,  319;  school  incentives, 
320;  religious  correlates,  323; 
influence  of  religious  motives 
on  the  v/ill,  324;  in  moral  train- 
ing, 327;  religion  in  public 
school,  328. 

Motives,  29,  316;  training  under 
motives,  319;  artificial  motives, 
320;  natural  motives,  321 ;  re- 
ligious motives,  323. 

Natural  Order  of  psychical  activ- 
ity, 104;  natural  and  harmoni- 
ous training,  106. 

Nervous  System,  The,  23 ;  phys- 
ical organism  of  the  soul,  24; 
nervous  energy  in  attention,  44. 

Numbers,  Methods  of  Teaching, 
145.  155   157,  294-310. 

Objective  Teaching,  113,  141  ;  of 
science,  116,  162;  objects  in 
teaching  reading,  223;  in  teach- 
ing language,  247;  in  teaching 
geography,  270;  in  teaching 
arithmetic,  294. 

Oral  Teaching,  135,  140;  object- 
'ive,  indirect,  and  direct,  141  ; 
union  of  these  methods,  143 ; 
union  of  oral  teaching  and  book 
study,  152-164;  diagram,  154; 
union  in  primary  classes,  154; 
in  intermediate  classes,  156;  in 
high-school  classes,  l6l;  errors 
in  their  union,  163. 

Outlines,  22,  34,  83,  230,  236. 

Pen  and  Pencil,  Use  of,  193. 


Per  cent  System,  The,  199. 

Percept,  Definition  of,  46;  63. 

Perception — see  Sense-perception. 

Phantasy,  51,  58;  conditions,  58; 
how  occasioned,  59 ;  creative, 
59;  hallucinations,  60. 

Philosophy,  10,  82,  1 10;  Fichte's 
definition,  82. 

Phonic  Method  of  teaching  read- 
ing, 227;  phonic  drills,  226; 
elementary  sounds,  227;  diffi- 
culties in  phonic  analysis,  228; 
letter  spelling,  229;  phonic 
type,  227. 

Physical  Geography,  293. 

Physiology,  12;  physiological  con- 
ditions of  psychical  action,  13; 
researches  of  physiologists,  13, 
33;  instruction  in,  158;  laws  of 
health,  158;  use  of  book,  159. 

Picture  lessons  in  language,  249. 

Power,  Definition  of,  99;  kinds, 
99;  developed  by  action,  119; 
power  leading  end  of  teaching, 
122;  act  more  important  than 
acquisition,  123;  sayings  of 
Lessing  and  Malebranch,  124; 
power  tested,  174;  power  and 
tendency  resultants,  31,  50,  119; 
principle  applied,    119,  316. 

Practice  in  Learning  Art,  124,  144. 

Preparation,  Teacher's  Daily,  211  ; 
knowledge  of  subjects  taught, 
211  ;  of  principles  and  methods, 
213;  skill  in  their  use,  214;  value 
of  daily  preparation,  215. 

Presentative  Power,  The,  36;  con- 
sciousness, 36 ;  sense-percep- 
tion, 38;  intuition,  44;  present- 
ative products,  46. 

Primary  Knowledge — acquired  ob- 
jectively, 113;  primary  concepts 
and  ideas,  113;  relation  to 
words,  115. 

Pr^piary  Tone,  191. 

Principles  of  Teaching,  14;  seven 
principles  stated  and  explained, 
100-130;  importance  of  knowl- 
edge of  principles,  100,  213. 

Promiscuous  Method,  The,  185. 

Proposition,  The,  68. 


INDEX. 


335 


Psychical  Powers,  2i ;  interde- 
pendent, 22;  law  of  activity  of 
psychical  powers,  50. 

Psychical  Processes,  Analysis  of, 
21-93;  how  known,  9;  basis  of 
pedagogy,  9,  88. 

Question  Method,  The,  178;  nat- 
ure of  questions,  178;  the  art  of 
questioning,  180. 

Reading,  Methods  of  Teaching, 
154,  156,  219-242;  primary  les- 
sons, 221-230;  Second-Reader 
drills,  230-237 ;  drills  in  ad- 
vanced classes,  237-242. 

Reading,  Primary,  219;  based  on 
pupils'  knowledge,  220;  first 
steps,  221;  board  lessons,  221; 
script  or  print,  222  ;  words  as 
wholes,  223;  use  of  objects,  223; 
limit  of  word  method,  225; 
phonic  method,  226 ;  letter  meth- 
od, 229;  script  to  print,  229; 
union  method,  230;  outline,  230. 

Reading  in  Second  Reader,  230; 
reading  defined,  231;  ends  of 
drills,  232;  means,  232-234; 
thought  reading,  234;  mental 
pictures,  235 ;  outline  analysis 
of  drill,  236;  supplemental,  237. 

Reading  in  Advanced  Classes,  237 ; 
instruction  on  authors,  238; 
vocal  training,  238 ;  expression 
of  feeling,  238;  pronunciation, 
239  ;  illustrative  drill,  239-242. 

Reason,  The,  69 ;  reasoning  de- 
fined, 70;  induction,  70;  deduc- 
tion, 75;  discerning  power  of 
reason,  48,  79;  how  early  chil- 
dren reason,  91,  103. 

Reasoning,  Inductive,  70;  distinc- 
tion between  it  and  judging, 
70;  ground  of  induction,  71; 
the  reason,  72;  validity  of  in- 
duction, 73;  analogy,  73;  com- 
mon induction,  74. 

Reasoning,  Deductive,  75;  syllo- 
gism, 75;  middle  term,  76;  rules 
for  testing,  76;  the  reason,  77; 
relation  to  induction,  78;  prac- 
tical value,   79. 


Recitation,  The,  16,  164;  origin 
of  term,  165;  neglect  of  it,  165; 
complimentary  to  the  lesson, 
165;  importance,  173;  objects 
or  aims,  173;  testing  knowl- 
edge, power,  and  skill,  173-175; 
union  with  the  lesson,  176; 
methods  of  conducting,  177- 
190;  recitation  record,  205. 

Religion  in  Public  Schools,  17, 
328;  religious  motives,  17,  323; 
relation  to  lower  motives,  324; 
relation  to  obedience,  325 ;  use 
in  moral  training,  327. 

Representative  Power,  The,  48 ; 
objects  reproduced,  48;  reten- 
tion, 49;  principle,  50;  simple 
representation,  51 ;  memory,  51  ; 
imagination,  55;    phantasy,  58. 

Rules  in  Arithmetic,  307. 

Sand-molding,  277,  290,  note. 

School  Arts,  Teaching  of,  128,  144. 

School  Incentives — see  Incentives. 

Science,  81  ;  teaching  of,  1 16,  162. 

Script  and  print,  221. 

Self-education,  136. 

Self-teaching,  121. 

Sensations,  Classes  of,  24;  locus, 
24,  40;    special,   23,  40. 

Sensibility,  The,  23 — see  Feelings. 

Sensorium,  The,  24,  38;  sensorial 
phenomena,  39. 

Sense-perception,  38;  psychical 
conditions,  39;  psychical  ele- 
ments, 39;  explanations,  40; 
original  perception,  41  ;  ac- 
quired, 41  ;  effects  of  attention, 
42;  sense-concept,  46. 

Sentence,  The,  6g;  its  synthesis 
and  analysis,  259-266. 

Sentence  Method,  The,  225. 

Singing  Tones,  191 ;  singing  in 
schools,  192. 

Skill,  Definition  of,  99;  acquired 
by  practice,  128,  144,  166,  214; 
testing  of  skill,  175. 

Soul,  The  Human,  21 ;  a  unit,  21 ; 
connection  with  body,  31;  har- 
mony of  soul  and  body,  t^},. 

Special  Senses,  The,  23,  38. 


336 


ELEMENTS  OF  PEDAGOGY. 


Speech,  Habits  of,  244,  267. 

Spelling,  223,  229;   oral,  233. 

Study,  A,  137;  ijranch  of  study, 
137;  course  of  study,  107,  137; 
diagram,  112. 

Study,  Definition  of,  136;  study  of 
books,  118,  149;  value  of  book 
study,  150;  union  of  book  study 
and  oral  teaching,  152-163. 

SuIiot'sAnalysisof  Narratives,  250. 

Supplemental  Reading,  237. 

Survey,  General,  14. 

Syllabic  Analysis,  228;  pronuncia- 
tion of  syllables,  228. 

Syllabus  of  Oral  Lessons  in  Home 
Geography,  271-283. 

Syllogism,  The,  75. 

Synthesis  and  Analysis,  138,  170, 
171,  256,  299. 

System,  Too  much,  208,  254. 

Teacher,  The,  210;  meaning  of, 
135;  an  artist,  100,  168;  blind 
experience,  127;  teacher's  prei^- 
aration,  210-215. 

Teaching,  Definition  of,  133,  134; 
an  art,  lOO,  168,  172;  ends,  97, 
98;  principles,  97-130;  teach- 
ing processes,  140;  teaching 
exercises,  164;  their  union,  176; 
errors  in  teaching,  163;  opera- 
tive teaching,  16,  200,  210; 
special  branches,  219-309. 

Terms  used,  11,  98,  133;  psychical 
terms,  11;  educational,  98,  133. 

Testing,  147;  relation  to  study, 
147;  abuse  of  the  test,  148;  test 
exercises,  164;  methods  of  test- 
ing, 177;  catechetic,  178-1S1; 
topic,  181;  their  union,  182; 
written  tests,  195-198. 

Text-books,  Kinds  of,  149;  use  of, 
159,  160,  267,  283,  303;  teach- 
er's use,  212. 

Thought  Power,  The,  61 ;  concep- 
tion, 62;  judgment,  67;  reason, 
69;  relation  of,  78;  scientific 
and  common  thought,  80;  activ- 
ity of  thought  powers,  86. 

Tongue  and  Pen,  244. 

Topic  Method,  The,  181. 


Training,  Definition  of,  134;  law 
of,  119;   moral  training,  313, 

Uniformity  and  System,  208. 

Union  of  oral  teaching  and  book 
study,  152  163;  of  teaching 
processes,  172;  of  oral  and  writ- 
ten numerical  processes,  305. 

Voice  Culture,  238 ;  vocal  expres- 
sion, 167, 

Will,  The,  18,  30,  313;  relation  to 
feelings,  313;  to  moral  action, 
314;  acts  of  will — choices,  pur- 
poses, and  volitions,  314;  gov- 
erning purpose,  315;  controller 
of  appetite,  313  ;  freedom  of  the 
will,  315;  the  will  in  conduct, 
317;  moral  character,  317  ;  self- 
active,  38,  316. 

Will,  Training  of  the,  318;  in- 
struction, 318;  culture  of  the 
feelings,  318;  discipline  under 
motives,  319;  training  for  lib- 
erty, 319 ;  use  of  incentives, 
320;  the  religious  motives,  323; 
influences  on  the  will,  324 ;  testi- 
mony of  history,  326. 

Word  Method,  The,  223;  use  of 
objects,  223;  first  steps,  224; 
words  in  combination,  224 ; 
limits  of  word  method,  225 ;  the 
sentence  method,  226. 

Words  as  Signs,  65 ;  how  learned 
by  children,  116,  223  ;  as  sounds 
and  forms,  220;  meaning  of 
words,  115,  233. 

Written  Examinations,  193-209; 
use  and  value,  195-199;  use  of 
results,  198 ;  resulting  evils, 
199-202;  remedies,  202-207;  ba- 
sis of  promotion,  205 ;  recita- 
tion record,  205 ;  marking  sys- 
tem, 206 ;  radical  remedy,  207. 

Written  Exercises,  193   195. 

Written  Reviews,  196. 

Written  Tests,  195   198. 


UCLA-Young  Research  Library 

LB1025  .W58e 
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UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


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